The New School Adjustment
by Clint Cooper
Summary: A teenage Leonard has moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles which means a new school with all the same old problems. At least that is what Leonard thinks when he first steps into the new environment. However he, and some nerdy friends he meets at Pasadena High School, will learn more than just academics thanks to Penny, the attractive cheerleader. Canon ships.
1. The New School Adjustment

Leonard and Michael Hofstadter sat in the back seat of the car as their father drove them to their new school. Leonard was looking out of the window, trying not to show any signs of nervousness, and instead was focusing on the buildings they drove by and the people who were walking on the side-walks. Michael was bopping his head to music he was listening to with headphones.

"I think you should both know I understand the difficulty of moving to a new city as I myself am adjusting to a new workplace." Dr. Hofstadter began to say from the driver's seat "Los Angeles is a different city to New Jersey and the people are different too. Don't expect people to warm to you immediately, but at least try to be friendly."

"Why do I feel like this is directed at me?" Leonard asked rhetorically and didn't look away from the window.

"Yes, you don't connect with people as easily as Michael and even your sister." He justified. "But I feel if you really tried, you could connect with people."

They heard Michael let out a laugh.

"Which rapper made the stupid punchline this time?" Leonard asked rhetorically, turning his head toward Michael.

Michael took his headphones out of his ears and paused the song he was listening too. "I was laughing at what father said, about you connecting with people."

"Michael, I don't think that is appropriate to laugh at." His father parented.

"Mother would also find it funny." Michael justified. "Leonard, you lived in New Jersey for almost seventeen years and how many friends did you make?"

Leonard glared at his brother. "Zero."

"I don't believe I need to present anymore evidence." Michael said with a smile.

The car drove up to the school's drop-off zone and stopped.

"Michael's rebuttal aside, my point still stands." Leonard's father said. "Just don't get too upset if it takes people some time to be friends with both of you."

Michael saw a group of very beautiful females in skimpy cheerleader outfits walking towards the school and smiled. "Cool." He said and got out the car immediately.

"I think I can deal with this new school." Leonard told his father "As long as I can keep to myself and not annoy anyone."

"That is not what I mean, Leonard." His father said. "I want you to make friends. It would definitely make this new school adjustment easier.…"

"The reason I was bullied so much in New Jersey was my intelligence was clear to see. I put my hand up to answer the questions with enthusiasm and got an A grade without trying hard." Leonard explained. "Those kind of actions rub people the wrong way."

Leonard's father sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I tried my hardest. I'll see you after school, okay?"

"Fine. Bye." Leonard said and got out the car quickly. Michael had already walked off, possibly to avoid being associated with a geek like Leonard, so he walked by himself towards the some-what daunting gates of the school.

#

"Good morning." A teacher said as he walked into the classroom. Leonard was sitting in morning homeroom that performed roll call and administrative duties before actual classes for the day started. He had chosen it sit in the back corner to avoid attention. A class full of students had walked in but Leonard had kept his eyes to the floor or his desk to avoid any awkward eye contact.

"Before we begin today, I'd like to introduce a new student joining us at Pasadena high school. Would Leonard Hofstadter please raise their hand?" the teacher asked. Leonard reluctantly did this. The whole class looked towards him and for the first time he actually got to look at some of his new classmates. Towards the other back corner of the class was the stereotypical group of popular students, girls with perfect make-up and hair and males with large muscles and sport jerseys. The front row had what looked like the geekier crowd. One male had a red flash T-shirt.

"Thank you Leonard." The teacher said. "My name is Dr. Gablehauser, and I also teach science at this school. Which science class are you taking?"

Leonard knew he was taking the advanced class but saying that out loud right now would already make him a target. So he decided to lie. "I don't remember."

"Have you got your timetable yet?" Gablehauser asked.

"Yeah, it was in my introduction pack." Leonard said.

"It should say on there what class you are taking." Gablehauser said. "Make sure to look at it before leaving home-group."

"Sure." Leonard said with little enthusiasm.

The male with the red flash T-shirt raised his hand. Gablehauser gave an obviously annoyed sigh.

"What is it, Sheldon?"

"Can we move on to the roll call." Sheldon questioned. "This Leonard Hofstadter chit-chat is wasting time and to get everything done we'd have to started roll call three minutes ago."

"Fine, Sheldon." He said. "I just want Leonard to feel welcome at this new school."

"Given his memory abilities he'll fit right in." Sheldon said. Leonard noticed this response was not sarcastic at all. He also heard some of the popular girls giggling at this. Leonard looked at Sheldon with confusion. What was his deal? Why was he so adamant and doing roll call on time?

"Well, class, I want everyone to help Leonard feel welcome here." Gablehauser told the students. "If you see him by himself, talk to him and…"

"Four minutes behind…"

"Okay Sheldon! Roll call!" Gablehauser said. He started reading out a list of names.

#

Leonard spent the day going from class to class avoiding eye contact and casually shrugging off any teacher who tried to get him to introduce himself to the class. No one had talked to him like Gablehauser suggested.

The last class of the day was gym class. It was a compulsory class which meant he had to at least try get a passing grade. They were doing running races, and were being forced to run around the school's football field. Leonard knew this would trigger his asthma so he walked up to the gym coach.

"What do you want?" the coach asked.

"I'm new here and… well… I have asthma…" Leonard added. "If I run too much I get really tired out and sometimes blood comes out my nose. My mother should've told the school this..."

"I have not heard of this." the coach said. "I am not letting any excuses stop someone from participating. Now go run laps with the rest of the students!"

"But…"

"Does that sound like a question?" the coach asked with an angry tone.

Leonard glared at the coach. "I guess a trip later to the nurse wouldn't be too bad. I should learn where the nurse's office is located." He said sarcastically and begun to run laps. He did it slowly so he wouldn't tire himself out much but he eventually began to feel a lack of breath and had to begin walking. He saw some of the males in the gym class running past him on their second laps and all without looking at Leonard.

"No, zombies and mummies are completely different." Leonard heard someone with a thick indian accent say from behind him.

"They are similar but not the same." He heard someone else say. "Plusle and Minun are similar but not the same for example."

"Mummies wear bandages!"

"That's just a fashion choice!"

Leonard was interested in the conversation but instead of talking he began to just walk more around the field. The two people talking were now running past him. He saw it was an Indian and a male who looked like a Beatles impersonator.

"Clearly I'm not going to convince you. We need an outsider perspective." Leonard gulped when he heard this. He saw that they had both turned around and stopped running. "Hey, new kid!" The one that looked a Beatles impersonator shouted at Leonard.

Leonard pretended he didn't hear.

"Leonard Hoft..whatever." he was called again. He reacted to hearing his name and saw that they noticed this. He knew he would have to interact with them.

"Yes?" Leonard asked.

"Mummies and zombies. Different or same?" he asked.

"Um…" Leonard thought. "I guess if you get bitten by a zombie you become one whilst if you get bitten by a mummy you just… have a mummy bite and a possible assault lawsuit."

"So that means you think they are different?"

"umm… yeah."

"I told you Raj!" Howard gloated. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Howard and this is Raj."

"Hello…"

"Wolowitz, Koothrappali, Hofts…new student!" they heard the gym coach shouting. "Stop chatting and run, or you'll all get detention."

"I don't have the energy to run." Leonard admitted.

"He won't actually give you detention." Howard said. "He just threatens it to motivate us. Just do a light jog whilst he is watching."

"Okay." Leonard nodded and begun to do just that.

#

"You made us dinner." Leonard said with shock. Leonard, Michael and their parents sat around a dining room table in their new house.

"I want to have dinner with the family each night and ask how their day was." His father explained. "My job here isn't as extraneous as back in New Jersey."

"I think this lasagne is wrong, Alfred." Beverly said and had a disgusted expression on her face.

"How so?" he asked.

Beverly shrugged. "The taste."

Alfred glared at his wife and Leonard saw this.

"It isn't a culinary masterpiece but I think it tastes nice." Leonard tried to help.

"Of course you would say that." Beverly chuckled. "You have low quality taste buds."

"And we all know they were developed because of a… certain females cooking." Leonard pretended to think aloud. "Who was she again?"

"That is enough you two!" Alfred interrupted. "Can someone please tell me about their day and how it went."

"Well there are some interesting idiots at Caltech…" Beverly began.

"Not you!" Alfred almost shouted. "What about you Michael?"

"I've been asked to join the football team and they think I should become a student leader in student council. I don't know how many commitments I can take on since I also made some friends and need a social life, and some of them were female if you know what I mean." Michael said.

"Unfortunately we do." Leonard responded.

"And what about you, Leonard?"

"Well my gym teacher hates me because I have asthma. And most the students in my classes don't seem particularly interested in me. I'm undecided about whether that is a good thing." Leonard explained.

"Surely you talked to someone." Alfred said.

"Well there was these two guys but it was brief conversation during gym class. After that they didn't interact with me." Leonard said.

Beverly gave a laugh.

"It seems they knew who my mother was." Leonard joked. Beverly glared at him. "I can see why that would put people off."

#

Leonard closed his locker door with several maths books held tightly in his hand.

"Are you good at maths." Someone said behind him. Leonard turned around and saw Howard and Raj.

"That depends on your standards." Leonard told them.

"I noticed you are in our advanced mathematics class." Howard said. "We need a member for our Mathletics group."

"I don't participate in extra-curricular activities." Leonard told them. "At least, not voluntarily." He remembered all the activities his mother had forced him to do back in New Jersey.

Raj suddenly tapped Howard quickly on the shoulders.

"What is it Raj?"

"Kurt has just entered the hallway. I think we should leave." Raj informed.

"Damn it." Howard said. "I'll talk to you later." The two quickly walked away from Leonard and he wondered why they were in a hurry to get away. Leonard turned his head in the direction of his maths class and saw who they were talking about. There was an almost bald male with large muscles walking down the hallway. A very beautiful blonde female was holding hands with him. Several males wearing football jerseys followed after him.

"Who is that?" He heard the guy ask the female and point to Leonard. Leonard was surprised that he had noticed him.

"Just some new kid, Kurt." She answered. "He is my homeroom." Leonard did recognise her from the day before and that morning.

"I think we should say hello." Kurt gave a sly smile.

"I don't think that is needed." The girl advised.

"I insist." Kurt walked up to Leonard who reactively gulped. "Hello. I'm Kurt." he introduced

"I know." Leonard said.

"Nice glasses." Kurt said. "Can I take a look at them."

"No, I need them to see." Leonard explained.

"I'll give them back." Kurt said and quickly took the glasses from his face. Leonard heard the girl sigh.

"I hope you understand if I don't trust your words." Leonard said.

Leonard's vision was blurry so he couldn't quite see what Kurt's reaction was to his reply. He did hear the smashing of glass on the floor.

"Was that my glasses?" Leonard asked. He heard a chorus of laughing jocks. "I guess that just answered my question."

"Next time I promise it will be more than just your glasses." He heard Kurt say.

"Come on." Kurt said. "I think we've said enough. For now." And he heard the several pairs of feet walk away from him.

Leonard bent down and felt around the ground to find his glasses.

"Here." Someone put them in his hand. It was the girl.

"Umm… thanks."

"Penny!" he heard Kurt call for her.

"Sorry. Got to go." She told Leonard.

"I was just making sure they were smashed!" He heard her shout back at Kurt and then she left to go back with him.

He put them on and it was like looking in a broken mirror, and was probably going to give him a headache all day. He turned towards the group of bullies walking away and saw barely that the girl following after them. She was oddly mesmorising to Leonard. He shook his head after staring at her for a few seconds. He wasn't going to be tricked into liking popular students.

#

"There was this person named Kurt who dropped my glasses." Leonard was explaining to his parents at dinner why he was wearing one of his spare pairs. "He then promised to break something else of mine. I hope he breaks the promise to break something else of mine."

"That sounds harsh." Alfred added. "Do you want me to do anything, Leonard?"

"I think I can handle it father." Leonard said. "The best thing is to act like you don't care that they are bullying you."

"I think it'll be good for Leonard." Beverly said. "I've read studies about bullying being good for strengthening the mind."

"I guess that explains why you are so smart." Leonard joked. Beverly didn't laugh.

"Kurt isn't bad." Michael said. "He is the captain of the football team who just happens to be a bit rough off the field."

"Seriously?" Leonard asked.

"He and his football team are like celebrities at Pasadena High School." Michael said. "They are nice when you get to know them. They even let me on the team."

"Why can't you be more like Michael, Leonard?" Beverly asked with a disappointed look. "Smart, athletic and social."

Leonard gave a glare. "I guess because my life's mission is to disappoint you mother." He said sarcastically and stood up. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to my room." And before anyone could argue he had left.

 **First new story for a while. I've had some writers block since my exams finished but I then thought of this. I know there have been many interpretations of high school in fanfiction but I wanted to give mine. And I wanted to write a more sarcastic or independent Leonard. I hope you can at least read the first chapter and give feedback.**

 **Next chapter I will probably introduce Bernadette and Amy to the story and add more Sheldon, Howard and Raj. I just wanted to set up Leonard and his family dynamics first which may detract some readers who want Shamy (canon shippings in this story btw) out the gate but I felt it was important. As usual please favourite, follow and/or review if you wish to leave feedback. Thank you all so much.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	2. The Party Agreement

Twice a week each student had a study class where they were meant to spend time on homework or studying. At least that is what is meant to happen.

Leonard's first study class didn't look like that description. Many students were just on their phones or gossiping to their classmates. The supervisor didn't seem to care and was just typing something on his laptop the whole time. Only a few students, which included Leonard, were doing work. He had gotten his mathematics book out and begun answering some of the review questions he'd been asked to complete for homework earlier that day. It was fairly mediocre in the challenging department.

"Damn it!" he heard someone exclaim from across the room. He turned and saw the blonde who'd picked up his glasses the day before, erasing something angrily in a graphed book.

"Why are you even bothering to do math homework, Penny?" a girl sitting next to her asked. The girl had brown hair and wasn't as good looking Penny but obviously tried to compensate with a face full of heavy make-up. Her figure was skinny just like Penny's.

Penny sighed. "I need to get this homework done, Christy." She told her. "I have a huge party to plan on the weekend AND if I my grades get below a C I'll be kicked off the cheerleading squad."

"I had the same problem Penny so I decided to get a geek." Christy said. "And I don't mean someone like that Bernadette girl you work with."

Leonard saw Penny give a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"When I was falling behind in my classes I asked a male geek to do my work for me." She told her. "I have one called Howard. In exchange I let him touch my breasts. If you promise them something even minor like that, they'll do anything for you. Guys are desperate for any type of action."

Penny looked disgusted and Leonard felt the same way. He couldn't believe deals like this were going down.

"I don't want to do that…"

"I guess you don't have to do anything sexual." Christy said. "You could literally offer anything and they'll be drooling over you…"

"I get your point, Christy." Penny stated. "I guess I am kind of desperate. And Bernadette is more reluctant to help me since Kurt and I became serious. Well, more serious than before." She began to look around the classroom and then her eyes trailed towards Leonard's direction. Leonard just realised he'd been staring at them and his head went back down to his books. "I'll be back." She said to Christy and Leonard heard footsteps walking towards his desk. He began to feel a brush of social anxiety.

"Hey." She said when she made it to him. Leonard looked upwards and saw her. Leonard once again couldn't help think of how beautiful she was. This time with his glasses on, he noticed how her eyes looked very distinct. He felt like slapping himself to stop this thought process. He'd never felt so vain before.

"Hi…" Leonard said back.

"Kurt broke your glasses the other day, right?" she questioned.

"That was me." Leonard told her. "I do hope it made him laugh. Didn't want the humiliation to be in vain." He added with obvious sarcasm.

"I apologise." Penny told him. "When he sees someone new and someone who looks like you he gets kind of…. enthusiastic. He is a good guy, I swear."

Leonard gave a look of derision as if to express disbelief but did not say anything to argue with her. He felt like arguing with Kurt's girlfriend could make the situation worse. Because of this, there was a short of moment of awkward silence until Penny spoke again.

"Are you good at maths?" she asked.

Leonard assumed this was about the tutoring Christy suggested. "I guess that depends on your…"

"Wow." She suddenly looked down at the book he had on his desk. "That looks complicated."

"It is just some… applied trigonometry calculations." He explained. She looked at him with confusion. "I assume you're not taking advanced mathematics then."

"I'm only doing the normal maths." She responded. "But I'll get kicked off the cheer squad if I fail."

"Ok…"

"So I was wondering if you'd help me out."

"I am not doing your homework for you." Leonard said bluntly.

"I need more than that." Penny began. She took the seat next to Leonard that was empty and sat down facing him. "We have tests too and I need to understand the stuff so I don't fail."

"You want me to be to be your tutor?" Leonard clarified.

"Yes." She smiled.

Leonard shook his head. "I have no time between my line dancing classes and football practice."

"Very funny." Penny said, but it didn't sound like she meant it. "But I can offer you anything."

Leonard raised his eyebrow at this offer.

"Not in that way." She rolled her eyes. "I mean like money."

Leonard thought and was about to dismiss her when something came to mind. "After your best buddy Kurt bullying me the other day." He said with a slightly mocking tone. "Well… he kinda implied he'd do it again and I only have so many pairs of glasses. I'd like it if you'd get him too not to… break me."

Penny thought for a second. "I can try." She said. "If I tell him you're are helping me stay on the team he'll probably understand. He understands the importance of sports."

"And that is where we differ." Leonard said.

Leonard saw Penny didn't know what to continue the conversation with next so she grabbed a notebook she'd been holding and put it on Leonard's desk. "Explain this."

Leonard analysed the working and saw it was wrong. Very wrong. "Parabolas. And the use of the Quadratic formula." Was all he said.

"Huh?" Penny said and looked at Leonard like he'd spoken a foreign language.

Leonard gave a large sigh. "Quadratic formula? Umm…surely you've learnt this?"

"Is that, like, sides in a square equal to 360?" she asked with a hopeful smile. Leonard shook his head. He grabbed his pen and began writing.

"This is going to take some time given your lack of knowledge." Leonard thought aloud. "But first let's see if you know anything about drawing graphs from an equation…"

#

"So if you have a math with a two thingy above an 'x'…"

Leonard sighed. "Equation with X raised to the power of two."

"Yeah." Penny nodded. "You have to use that formula to find what x could be." She pointed to the quadratic formula Leonard had written down.

"That is right." Leonard said. "But… umm… I'd urge you to use better language."

"Thank you." Penny said. "Leonard wasn't it?"

"Yes." He nodded. The school bell rang to mean the end of the lesson.

"This was helpful. We should do it again next study class." She said and suddenly had a thought. "Hey, do you have any plans Saturday night?"

"Depends."

"Well, I am having a party at my house and you are not so uncool that I think you would be out of place." She explained.

Leonard gave an annoyed look at being called 'not so uncool'. "I'll probably be busy." He said. "So I wouldn't bother hanging any pig's blood to the rafters." Penny gave a confused look. Clearly she didn't get the reference.

#

"For today's science lesson I will be giving you an assignment." Gablehauser explained to the advanced science class "I will give you a topic and you must write a report on the science, history and the ethics behind it. You will have a fortnight to complete it and… you'll be working in pairs." The class gave a collective groan. Leonard saw Sheldon, who he recognised from his argumentative actions in home class, raise his hand.

"Is the working in pairs compulsory OR do the smarter students get to work by themselves?" he asked with an annoyed look on his face.

Gablehauser sighed. "No everyone is working in a group of two as in the 'real world' people work in teams." He clarified. "However, I will be allowing you to choose your partner. You should all chose your them now."

Everyone in the class turned to a person sitting next to them except Leonard and Sheldon.

"Does anyone not have a partner?" Gablehauser asked. Leonard and Sheldon were the only ones to put their hands up. Gablehauser pointed towards the two of them. "I guess you two will be together."

Leonard looked over at Sheldon who was glaring at him. Leonard knew this wouldn't be fun.

#

"Where is mother?" Michael asked. At dinner that night it was just Leonard, Michael and Alfred Hofstadter.

"She said she was working late." Alfred told them. "Something about not wasting time eating dinner with…" He then stopped what he was saying. "Anyway, how was your day? Leonard?"

"I have my first science project." Leonard said. "Just some report on nuclear power. Nothing much else."

"And you? Michael?" he queried.

"I was invited to a party for Saturday night." Micheal told them.

"Would this be the one at Penny's house?" Leonard asked curiously.

"I believe that is Kurt's girlfriend's name." he replied. "Wait! How do you know?"

"Because I've been invited." Leonard informed and felt happy at Michael's look of surprise.

"What? How?"

"That information is classified." Leonard joked. "I'm afraid the FBI will eliminate me if I reveal it." He smiled slyly at Michael. Micheal glared at him.

"Will you be attending the party?" Alfred asked Leonard. He looked concerned.

"No!" Micheal interrupted any answer from his brother. "I don't need a geek brother ruining my reputation. We all know what happened at that one party he went to back in New Jersey."

Leonard gave his father an awkward glance as they remembered it. They both weren't fond of that memory.

"I hate to say this but my brother is correct." Leonard agreed. "I will not be attending that party and I don't think any convincing will make me go."

#

"Hey." Someone said from behind Leonard as he was getting his books from his locker. He closed the locker door and turned to see the familiar faces of Howard and Raj. Apart from Penny and Kurt these two had been the only two who had talked to him since he'd arrived.

"Am I settling another argument?" Leonard asked. "I honestly don't know which of you is better looking."

"No." Howard shook his head. "I heard from a friend that you had been invited to Penny's party tomorrow."

"Was it the friend that let you touch her breasts?" Leonard asked. "I assume you are the Howard, Christy was referring too."

"The details are not important." Howard shrugged it off. Raj gave him a confused look. It seemed he didn't know about Howard's arrangement with Christy. "We just hoped you'd help us get into the party."

"We've been deemed too 'creepy' by Penny and her friends." Raj explained. "Well, Howard has. I actually think she thinks I don't speak English."

Leonard wondered why that was for a second but then got back to discussion at hand. "I don't think it is appropriate to bring people to a party where they are not wanted."

"Come on!" Howard pleaded. "I can pay you!"

"That has to be a joke..."

"Twenty dollars."

"Nope."

"Fifty!"

"I should go to..."

"Hundred!" he said. "And that is the final offer."

Leonard sighed. He knew that these deals were not his style and he criticised internally his deal with Christy the day before. But he needed money because he was too anti-social to get a job and now it felt like a hundred dollars was staring at him straight in the face.

"Fine." Leonard agreed. "I'll try and get you into the party. But I expect hundred dollars from you in cash."

Howard nodded in agreement. "Deal."

As this conversation was finishing someone had walked up to the three of them. "If I were you, Leonard Hofstadter, I would make them sign a contract." That person said. Leonard turned and saw it was Sheldon who wearing a shirt with a melting cube on it. "To see if there are any misinterpretations in the party agreement."

"Hello Sheldon Cooper." He greeted, ignoring his suggestion. "I don't suppose you want to get into the party too."

"That incessant waste of time." He shook his head. "I wish to discuss the project since I had to leave in a hurry after science class yesterday."

"I noticed."

"I also didn't want to talk to you but my mother told me last night how rude that is." He explained more and Leonard wondered what that meant about Sheldon's thought processes "So my suggestion is I do the project and you pretend like you helped."

Leonard couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "But it is our project." He stated. "Not your project."

"But a project done solely by me would be an A+." Sheldon said. "I don't know your intelligence level but based on my experiences with high school students you'll drag my grade down."

Leonard shook his head. "No, Sheldon." He said. "We are doing this together. Whether you like it or not."

"But I thought you'd like me doing the assignment for you." He said. "Most other students don't mind when this occurs."

"Well… I prefer earning my own academic achievements." Leonard told him.

"Oh." Sheldon nodded. "The 'mother's boy' complex."

"What?"

"Your mother is Beverly Hofstadter, correct?" he asked. Leonard suddenly felt frightened of what Sheldon was going to say and didn't answer his question. He seemed to be showing this on his face as Sheldon seemed to take this as an answer. "Since you look appropriately impressed, I'll assume I am correct. I read her thought provoking book, Needy Baby Greedy Baby, and the chapter about an underachieving child going through potty training…"

"I think that is enough." Leonard interrupted. He had a very clear shade of red across his face from embarrassment which became worse when he heard Howard give a small laugh. "I… uh… think we should split the project up and do research on our parts. Next Monday we can collaborate our information and give feedback."

"That sounds tedious." Sheldon said.

"Well that is how I am going to do it." Leonard told him. "I can research the ethics given I doubt you know much about that."

Sheldon didn't realise the insult and nodded. "Fine!" he agreed reluctantly. "I should stop talking to you as I can feel my IQ decreasing." Sheldon then left the conversation without saying goodbye.

After Sheldon was far enough away to not hear him, Leonard thought aloud "What is that guy's deal?"

"No one knows." Raj said. "He always manages to say just the right thing to annoy you. But he doesn't realise he is doing that."

"That is sad." Leonard responded.

"Don't get tricked. Crazy looks like sad just to draw you in." Howard told him.

"Thanks for the advice. I can use it when my mother inevitably drives my father crazy" Leonard said sarcastically. "Which should be any day now." He then said goodbye to Howard and Raj and left for his class.

#

"Thank you for helping me again Leonard." Penny said during the next study class. She had a book full of math questions she and Leonard just went through. Leonard could tell she was making progress with her mathematics skills but she still had a lot of work to still do. "I really needed to finish this before the weekend. Party planning, you know."

"Totally." He said with sarcasm. "But since you bought it up… I'd like to know if the offer to attend the party still stands."

Penny looked curious at Leonard's change of heart. "Yeah."

"And can I bring two… um… friends." He queried.

"Sure." She agreed. "As long as they don't turn out to be prettier than me."

"That depends on your perspective." Leonard said.

"And what is your perspective?" Penny asked.

Leonard suddenly felt a twinge of awkwardness due to him actually finding her attractive. But it made sense given she was conventionally attractive and most people, male or female, would at least admit internally that Penny was good looking. Leonard noticed this pause had gone a for a few seconds too long and had to say something to stop the awkward feeling. "Umm… well… Study is my lady." He said and pointed towards the books. "Now let's get to work on those quadratic problems."

#

Saturday soon came. When Leonard was ready to go to Penny's party he grabbed his car keys and walked to the front door to leave the house.

"Where are you going?" he heard someone ask suspiciously behind him. He turned to see his mother. Leonard remembered her not being able to get into work that weekend and complaining about it mid insult to his father.

"Are you planning on writing another biography on me?" Leonard asked rhetorically, referring to her publishing books about him in the name of 'science'.

She shook her head and gave a very annoyed expression. "I was more interested in the car." She looked at the car keys in his hand. "I know we gave you it because it was old and clunky but without it we'd have to take you everywhere. I don't want it getting destroyed."

"Oh." Leonard said, and the querying made sense. "I was just going um…to a… friend's house…"

"How did you get a friend?" she asked with a hint of insult. "That is out of line with my theories on child development and social..." Suddenly she opened her eyes in realisation. "You're going to that party? The one Michael is at right now?"

Leonard knew his mother was going to ridicule him for this BUT also that she'd know if he was lying. "Well… yes."

"After what happened in New Jersey, you're going to go to a party?" She judged. "Your father told me of your decision to decline an invitation. For once I thought you actually made the correct choice about something."

Leonard sighed. "What happened in New Jersey was a one-time thing." He justified. "I promise to be back, with the car not damaged okay? As long as I can stop this conversation and leave the house!"

"I guess that isn't unreasonable." Beverly nodded. She got out her phone and started typing something on her phone. Leonard knew exactly what she was doing. Whenever something happened that she felt noteworthy for her books, she got whatever available to write it down immediately. Leonard rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you later, mother." He said with an angry tone and left the house.

 **Thanks for reading this chapter. Next chapter will be the continuation of the party plot and the assignment plot. Also Bernadette and Amy fans, put down those pitchforks, because they will definitely appear in the next chapter.**

 **If you wish to leave some feedback, please review the story and please favourite or follow if you liked it. Thank you all who reviewed the last chapter. I didn't know what the reception would be like and it was mostly positive which felt nice. Thank you all once again.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	3. The Raging Party Explanation

"That is 50 dollars from me and 50 from Raj." Howard said as he handed Leonard the money. The three had met outside of Penny's house so Leonard could get them into the party. Leonard was able to hear that the party had already begun as loud music could be heard coming from inside the house.

"You two better hope this is worth it." Leonard told them as they walked up to the door and rung the doorbell. "If you two get thrown out immediately I'm keeping the money."

A man in his twenties opened the door and he was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

"Wrong house." The guy said whilst taking a look at the three of them. "Your science club must be at one of the neighbours."

"No… umm…" Leonard tried to explain himself.

"We're here for Penny's party." Howard interrupted with a gleeful look.

The man raised his glasses and looked at them once again. "Are you sure?"

"Umm…" Leonard said again. "We are _very_ sure." He tried to sound very blunt.

"Hmm." He said with obvious disbelief. "What is your name?" he got out a phone. "Penny put me out here to make sure no one who wasn't invited got in."

"My name is Leonard."

Leonard saw the guy's eyes read down the phone until he nodded. "There is one Leonard on this list. Says your name is Leonard Hefty."

"That is probably me"

"And it says you are bringing two guests." He looked at Howard and Raj. "Are you sure you aren't doing some sort of unpopularity charity project?"

Leonard was getting annoyed and gave him a glare. "Yes. I'm here to help Penny with her unpopularity." He said sarcastically.

The guy shook his head. "My sister has some weird friends." He stated. "I guess I see nothing odd here. You may go in."

The three walked into the party and left Penny's brother looking startled by them being on the invitation list.

Leonard got a good look at the interior of the house. It was a fairly standard suburban house for Pasadena and had two stories, although the downstairs looked bigger than the upstairs.

"Thank you for this, Leonard." Howard said. "Now we are going to go and mingle with the pretty ladies."

"What?"

"See ya." Raj said goodbye and the two quickly walked into the living room.

"Don't leave me by myself…" Leonard began to argue but they two had already left. For the first time Leonard had time to feel the atmosphere of the party. In the living room was loud club music and people dancing. There was also people on the outskirts of this standing around with red cups and talking. He walked away from that and went into the kitchen in hope that it would be quieter but it seemed that was where most of the food and drinks were being served from. There was several bowls of chips and popcorn on the table and crates of drinks. There was cans of coke but what was actually being drunken most was cans and bottles of beer. He saw some people grabbing one and then drinking as much as possible in one gulp so they could get back to talking or making out.

When Leonard processed this his mind began to freak out internally. He felt bad memories come back from his one party in New Jersey and had to shake his head physically to get his mind out of it. He pretended to look at his watch. "I guess I've spent enough time here." And turned to leave.

And then he saw Michael holding a bottle of beer and clinking it with a guy in a football jersey. He was sitting in a group of footballers and pretty girls, including Christy, who Leonard assumed were cheerleaders. He smiled and took his phone out. He quickly took a snap of his brother drinking and then decided it was time to mess with his brother. He walked over to them.

"Hello Michael." Leonard greeted his brother. The whole group looked over to Leonard and he saw Michael gulp. Leonard couldn't help but smile.

"What are you doing here?" Michael asked with anger. He turned and saw all of his friends were staring at him. "I mean… who are you?"

Christy spoke up. "This is Penny's math tutor. I believe he got a pity invite."

"Is that all this group knows about me?" Leonard question. "They don't know anything else….l who I am related to…"

"I don't understand anything this guy is saying." One of the footballers said.

"Zack, he is obviously delusional!" Michael answered in protest.

"Well actually I am Michael's…"

"Distant cousin!" Michael interrupted "Very distant cousin!" Michael answered with a loud tone.

"What is going on here?" someone came over after hearing Michaels' loud anger. Leonard saw it was Kurt and reactively gulped. All the confidence he'd just mustered from teasing Michael had disappeared. Then Leonard noticed Penny standing next to him and felt a little less scared.

"We are just meeting Michael's distant cousin who is illusional about math, maybe?" Zach told him.

"Oh, him." Kurt looked Leonard straight in the eye. Penny cleared her throat as if to tell Kurt something. "This is Leonard. He is helping Penny stay on the cheerleading time by teaching her math, so no one mess with him. What did you say about him, Penny?"

"Oh." Penny said when she realised she was being asked something. "That he wants the spirit of school sport to be maintained, hence why he is helping me pass."

"Really?" Michael asked in disbelief. "I never knew you cared so much about school spirit, Leonard. I mean… distant cousin."

"I think Leonard has spent enough time with the footballers." Penny interfered. "Why don't I take you to people who are more… your type."

Leonard raised his eyebrow in confusion but then saw all the footballers staring at him and made him feel very socialing uncomfortable. "Ok. Goodbye, everyone. Especially Michael." Leonard waved at Michael and then followed Penny away from the group.

"So you're Michael's cousin?" Penny asked.

"Brother actually." Leonard corrected. "But he thinks I'll ruin his popularity."

"Oh, that makes sense." Penny said without a hint of sarcasm. "Anyways here we are."

Penny was standing in front of two females who were standing near the dancing and music. One had blonde curly hair, was short and wearing glasses and a floral dress. The other female also had glasses but had brown hair and had an outfit that reminded Leonard of something his grandmother back in New Jersey would wear to a tea party. He vaguely recognised them from his advanced classes.

"Leonard, this is Bernadette." Penny gestured to the blonde one. "I work at the Cheesecake Factory with her." Leonard nodded, remembering Christy mentioning a girl named Bernadette. She took a good look at the other girl before speaking. "And this… this… is her plus one."

"Hello, Leonard." Bernadette greeted with a particularly squeaky tone.

"Hello." The other girl said. "My name is Amy Farrah Fowler. I'm new at Pasadena High School. I've only been here for a week."

Leonard had heard that the one of the other junior home rooms had also gained a new student but he hadn't cared enough to seek them out.

"Penny, did you invite me to your party so your one smart friend had someone else to talk to…"

"Penny." Christy, who had just pushed her way through from the crowd of dancers, interrupted Leonard's sentence. "There is this really creepy dude with a strange haircut in the bathrooms…"

"Damn it!" Penny said. "I bet Howard Wolowitz snuck in!" Leonard gulped. "Oh, Leonard, where are those two people you were bringing?"

"Oh…" Leonard began to make up a lie. "They got each other ill."

"That is disappointing." Penny looked down sadly. "But I should go sort this Howard thing out. See ya." She and Christy turned and walked away.

Leonard, Bernadette and Amy stood against the wall awkwardly listening to the sound of music play.

"Are you uncomfortable, Leonard?" Amy asked after five minutes of this.

Leonard shook his head. "No."

"Because you look incredibly awkward. Is this silence bothering you?" Amy continued to query.

"Are we not good enough for you?" Bernadette asked sternly.

"Umm… does anyone want a drink?" Leonard offered. He was desperate to leave, with something to actually do.

"No, thank you." Bernadette rejected. "My dad, a cop, warned me of boys trying to put something in my drunk."

"My mother said boys would try and get me drunk to coitus with me." Amy said. "So that'd be a no."

Leonard sighed. "I'm going to get a drink for myself. I'll be back."

#

Leonard went to the kitchen to get a can of coke. However, as he opened the can and looked around at all the movement he shuddered. Internally he had decided this party was not worth it. He'd successfully gotten Howard and Raj into the party so everything he needed to do was completed so he decided to head home. He walked to the front door and was about to open it when he heard Penny's voice behind him.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Leonard turned.

"I'm going home." Leonard said.

"What? Why?" she asked and had a sad expression on her face.

"I… um…"

"Are you not having fun?" Penny said. "You aren't are you?"

Leonard didn't want to hurt Penny's feelings so he tried to make something. "I just remembered I have something to do… very important…"

Penny looked down at ground. "Ok. That is sad. Everyone hates me!"

Leonard saw Penny's sad expression and then a red cup in Penny's hand. "Are you drinking alcohol?"

"Kurt got me some beer earlier." Penny told him. "I think this is the wrong type. It tastes funny."

Leonard felt a twinge of concern for her. "Give me the drink." Leonard said. "I think you shouldn't…"

"I can handle my own drinking Leonard." She said and then suddenly burped really loudly. This disgusted Leonard but Penny seemed to find it funny and gave a laugh.

"I insist, Penny." Leonard said. "I think I should make sure." He tried to grab the cup.

"Leonard please!" Penny pulled away. Leonard managed to hold the cup but Penny pulled too hard and the cup, which was made of cheap plastic, broke and some beer flew out and landed all over Leonard's face and clothing.

"Not again!" Leonard exclaimed.

"Not again?" Penny questioned.

"It's a long story." Leonard explained.

"Which will probably be boring based of your math talks." Penny said and gave a laugh. Leonard glared.

"I help you in maths for free. I don't like suffering through your over-the-top stupidity just as much as you don't like the math. 'Quadratic formula is sides in a square equal to 360'. Seriously?" Leonard argued back.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Leonard began to regret what he said, knowing his attack on her intelligence would be something his mother would do. But the party and alcohol spilt on his clothes seemed to bring out bad memories and he reacted rashly.

"I'm sorry, Penny…"

"Are you leaving?" she suddenly asked. Leonard gave a confused look.

"Yeah.".

"Are you not having fun?" Penny looked sadly towards the ground again. "That is sad. Everyone hates me!"

Leonard understood what was happening based off his previous experiences. "You're going through memory impairment due to alcohol." Leonard said aloud.

"Huh?" Penny asked. "Anyways, if you're not having fun I'll make you. We should go and dance."

"No." he shook his head "If Kurt or even worse my brother sees…"

Suddenly Penny grabbed Leonard's hand and pulled him towards where the dancing was happening. There was a lot of other drunk high schoolers jumping up and down randomly and not to whatever beat was playing.

"Your arms are tiny." Penny said with a laugh.

"Umm… your hands are big. For a female." Leonard noted.

Penny finally let go and began swinging her hips around like she was doing the hula. Leonard didn't know what to do so he stood in the spot.

"Come on, Leonard!" Penny protested. "Dance!"

Some of the other party goers had started observing Penny's odd antics with Leonard. Leonard didn't start dancing and felt really uncomfortable with the attention. The eyes that were on him was trigging some of his social anxiety and his breathing increased. He grabbed his inhaler, which he kept at all times in his pocket, and began to puff.

"What is going on here?" Leonard heard Kurt charging through the crowd of dancers and over to the two of them. He firstly saw Leonard using his inhaler. "Where did Leonard get the drugs from?" he asked.

Leonard stopped using the inhaler but his breathing was still heavy. "You have to be…. kidding…. right…?"

Kurt then saw Penny dancing. "Why are you dancing like that Penny?" he exclaimed "Do you think it is digified to swing your hips in that matter."

"Kurt?" Penny questioned. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"Penny do you really think the girlfriend of the captain of the football them should act in such a debraiding manner. With a lame geek." Kurt shook his head and gestured to Leonard. "No offence though." He said to Leonard.

"I took it as a compliment." Leonard added sarcastically.

"Do you even realise how many girls would want to date me?" he asked Penny. "It is true you are the prettiest but still…"

"Kurt." Penny began crying and then suddenly ran through the crowd of dancers towards the stairs. Everyone heard the slamming of a door from upstairs.

Kurt suddenly put a hand on Leonard's shoulder which made him almost jump in shock. He raised his eyebrow.

"Now that Penny is gone." He said. "I respect that you are helping her stay on the squad BUT if I see you two doing anything 'special' together, just remember what I did to those glasses." And then he walked off after her.

"What just happened?" he heard a familiar squeaky voice say with an angry tone. He looked and saw Bernadette and Amy with Howard and Raj standing.

"Umm… why are you with them?" Leonard asked the group.

"I heard Penny found my hiding place so I went to the dance floor. Then I saw these two lovely ladies and thought I'd treat them to some Howard." He said suggestively. Raj nodded but looked like he physically couldn't say anything.

"Stop avoiding the question!" Bernadette squeaked even louder. "What just happened with Penny?"

"Penny!" they heard Kurt shouting and knocking loudly on door upstairs. "Come on!"

"Penny was drinking something. I think it was alcohol." Leonard explained. "Kurt and Penny were arguing… I think… and then she stormed off upstairs. Kurt followed."

"Damn! Seriously?!" Bernadette exclaimed.

"Why are you so concerned Bernadette?" Amy asked. "Based on my observations with you and Penny, you are drifting apart as friends due to her social status and your perceived intellectual superiority."

"I'm her only friend that actually cares enough about her wellbeing." Bernadette explained. "Or at least, I don't get drunk or high like her other cheerleader friends. It's the only reason I come to these things."

The two saw Kurt walking down the stairs in complete failure at getting Penny to come out of a room. He went back to the party like nothing had just happened.

"If it helps I care immensely about your well-being." Howard hinted at Bernadette. Bernadette rolled her eyes and then looked straight at Leonard.

"The two of us are going up there and trying to cheer her up." Bernadette demanded.

"I'm not very good at cheering people up…"

"I don't care!" she answered. She grabbed Leonard lightly on the arm and dragged him away.

"I am never leaving this party." Leonard said sarcastically.

#

Bernadette knocked on the door once again.

"Come on, Penny!" she insisted. "Open this damn door! I can break it down! My dad is a police officer!"

"I don't want to talk right now, Bernadette!" Penny insisted. "Kurt, hurt my feelings!" Bernadette and Leonard both heard crying.

"I don't think we can do anything." Leonard said.

"We? I'm the only one doing anything!" Bernadette argued.

"Is that Leonard?" they heard Penny say through the door.

"Yeah." Bernadette.

"Can I talk to him?" Penny asked. "Privately."

Leonard and Bernadette looked at each other with confusion. "Sure." Bernadette said. Penny opened the door and Bernadette basically shoved Leonard in the room.

"Bye, Bernadette." Leonard said with an annoyed tone and Penny closed the door. He looked around the room with curiosity. There were posters of pop stars and a bed with bright pink sheets. He assumed that this was her bedroom. "What did you want?" Leonard asked.

"I did some maths earlier today." Penny said. "Do you mind looking at it?"

"You pulled yourself and me away from a raging party to do math?" Leonard questioned. "Probably the best thing to happen to me ever at a party."

"It is probably bad." She handed a math book to him. "Just like my relationship with Kurt." She began to cry once again and Leonard sighed. He did not sign up for this. He put the book down and tried to think of a way to comfort her.

"I'm not an expert at this relationship thing. My only examples are my brother who goes through woman like candy and my parents who argue and hate each other." Leonard explained. "But it'll be okay… Things happen for a reason... and it is not you but him… I think…."

"You didn't want to come here tonight, did you?" Penny asked him. "You've been trying to leave all night."

"I don't like parties. I was only paid to come by… doesn't matter who." He said. "All this socialising and partying gives me anxiety."

"But you're perfectly nice for a nerd. I invited you because of that. Not so you could talk to Bernadette like you joked earlier." Penny said. "Why would socialising be bad for you?"

"Firstly you could've stopped at 'perfectly nice'." He said. "And second, as I said before it is a long story."

"Does it look like I'm doing anything else?" Penny asked.

"Umm… okay." He said. "I guess since you're drunk and memory impaired this will be forgotten. Well… my mother she… writes embarrassing books about my life."

"Huh?"

"She does it under the guise of 'science' but that doesn't make it any less humiliating for me." He explained. "She uses my siblings and I as experimental subjects for her child raising theories. Whilst Michael and my sister, who is currently at college, thrived under it, I didn't. Everything I did from birth to my first year of high school seemed to fail under it. I guess someone found out about the books and used them to humiliate me. I wasn't just a nerd outcast but someone with every embarrassing mistake at the bully's hands. I hated my life."

"Oh." Penny said with concern. "That is unfortunate."

"One girl started being nice to me and I thought we were being friends. I was beginning to like my life again when she invited me to a party." Leonard continued but before anything Penny suddenly began to cough and then vomit flew out of her mouth and all over Leonard's shoes.

"Ew!" Leonard exclaimed. Then he opened his eyes in realisation. "Oh my gosh. You're a girl and this is a party!"

"So?"

"When I came to this school I swore to keep to myself to avoid any emotional pain. But here I am revealing all to a popular girl at a party!" He said. "I can't let this happen again! I need to leave now!"

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door.

"Penny?" it was Kurt. "Are you still in there?"

"If he catches you in here he'll freak out!" Penny exclaimed. "You have to climb out the window!"

"What?" Leonard asked in shock.

"It is easy." Penny said. "I've done it many times."

Leonard walked towards the window and saw that if he was able to reach the window sill below Penny's window sill he'd easily be able to do it.

Leonard opened the window and began to crawl out. This was not how he pictured leaving the party but he was just satisfied that he was finally leaving.

#

As Leonard walked back to his car he looked down at his hand which now had a cut on it. He'd almost successfully gotten down from Penny's window but fallen and hurt himself.

"Leonard Hofstadter?"

Leonard looked up and saw someone familiar. "Sheldon Cooper?" Leonard saw him wearing Batman pyjamas.

"Are you bleeding?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah." Leonard said.

"Here." Sheldon reached into his pants pocket. "I keep this in my pyjamas in case I get hurt whilst in bed." Leonard saw a mini first aid kit.

"Wow, thanks." Leonard said in surprise that Sheldon was being nice to him. He grabbed a plaster from it and put it on.

"You got blood on my kit!" Sheldon said. "I'll probably have to get a new one now. Filthy mudblood! Keep it!"

Leonard shrugged at this and put the kit in his pocket. "Why are you walking around in the middle of the night in superhero pyjamas?" Leonard asked curiously "Did someone flash the bat-signal?"

"No, I'm not Batman." Sheldon didn't get Leonard's sarcasm. "This party is too loud. I can't get my proper eight hours of REM sleep with all this noise."

"Are you one of Penny's neighbours?" Leonard queried.

"I am THE neighbour." He told him. "I live right next door."

"Oh." Leonard noted. "Well I wouldn't bother trying. Penny is kinda upset right now and I doubt she'll listen to you about any complaints."

"I see what is happening." Sheldon nodded. "You're drooling over the pretty girl. You'd prefer to side with her than with me."

"I hardly know you…"

"I expected this from you Leonard Hofstadter." He shook his head. "But now that I actually see it…"

Leonard accidentally let out a yawn. "Sorry. I really want to stand here in the street in the middle of the night but I should go." Leonard said and then left Sheldon glaring at Leonard.

#

"Oh my gosh." Michael noted whilst sitting at the dining room table with a cup of coffee. "What time is it? 7am? 8 am?"

Leonard took a sip from his own cup of coffee and then answered his brother. "It is 1pm." Michael let out a groan in tiredness.

"So you children are finally awake?" Alfred asked. "How was the party last night?" The two looked up and saw both their mother and father.

"Never again…" Leonard shuddered.

"Leonard tried to humiliate me in front of my friends!" Michael complained. "But after that it was fun. Got some freak on with a girl."

Beverly had her phone and was taking some form of notes "Just what I'd expected." Beverly said. "So Leonard…What did you do other than humiliate your brother?" Leonard saw she seemed eager to type something in her notes about him failing.

Leonard thought for a second and then gave a sly smile. "It was weird. I was alone in a room with a girl." He said. "What went on in there. I can't even begin to explain using appropriate language."

"You're lying." Beverly accused.

"I did hear from someone that you were dancing with Penny." Michael recalled.

Beverly shook her head. "No. This is not in line with my research. This must be an outlier."

"I've been to two parties in my entire life, mother." Leonard argued. "Anyone and their pet chimpanzees know that is not enough information to justify an outlier." Leonard grabbed his coffee, stood up and walked towards his bedroom to work on the science assignment. He only hoped Sheldon was doing his part of the assignment, and only his part.

 **This is a lot longer than my usual chapters but I wanted all the party in one chapter. I did have to cut one or two things out to make this happen, but I think it flows the same way with a tiny bit less character development then I hoped.**

 **Anyways thanks for reading this chapter and for favouritng, following and reviewing the previous chapters. This story is getting a more positive response than I expected. If you wish to leave feedback please review and if you wish to continue getting story updates please favourite and follow. With Christmas coming up I don't know how long it'll be to the next chapter but I've got it roughly planned out.**

 **Thank you all once again.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	4. The Assignment Discussion

The Monday after Penny's party Leonard couldn't help wonder what kind of attention he'd get after a lot of people had seen him dancing with Penny. He remembered walking through the halls at his previous high school and hearing people shout excerpts from his mother's books. It was humiliating to hear someone shout 'go for the left' every time he walked somewhere but he still could hear in the back of his mind insults like that when he walked down the halls of his new school.

To Leonard's surprise, outside of a few whispers that may not have been about him, he didn't hear anything. It seemed people had forgotten or didn't care. Either one would've been a satisfying explanation for Leonard.

So he went through his classes like usual. He saw Penny several times in some of his classes but didn't talk to her. He saw Howard and Raj talking about their exciting adventures at Penny's house. Apparently Howard kissed someone but wouldn't say who. Sheldon gave Leonard a sly smile at one point. The two were meant to meet that day for their assignment but Sheldon always left class quickly and during the morning break Leonard couldn't find him.

After science class the school bell rang for the lunch break. Sheldon once again rushed out.

"Leonard Hofstadter!" he heard Gablehauser call for his attention as everyone scurried out. "Can I speak to you?"

Leonard walked up to the desk Gablehauser was sitting at. "Depends on how good your Klingon is." He joked. "qatlh qaparHa'?"

Gablehauser gave a confused look. "No." he said. "Can you please read this." he handed Leonard several pieces of paper. Leonard's eyes skimmed the first paragraph and understood why he was being talked to.

"A report on Nuclear Power by the future Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter." He read. Leonard felt anger boiling up inside of him. Sheldon had done an entire assignment and pretended Leonard had helped. "I didn't write any of this." he said honestly.

"I expected as much." Gablehauser said. "It is in Sheldon's writing style. No differing perspectives."

"Does this mean I get a new partner…"

"Leonard." He interrupted. "Sheldon is a bright kid but he is not going to succeed at college or at a career in science if he can't learn to work with others."

"Oh." Leonard said. "So you want me to do what?"

"Tell him that if he doesn't co-operate with you on an assignment that he'll fail." Gablehauser told Leonard. "He'll listen to that. He likes polishing his almost perfect grade point average."

Leonard began to think of all the difficulty he'd need to go through to get this done. Leonard probably wanted to pass as much as Sheldon so he also needed to try and talk to him. "When I see him next I'll tell him that."

"Your new topic is on solar power and it is still due on the same date." He told Leonard. "And if he doesn't help you please inform me."

"I will Mr. Gablehauser." Leonard responded. "Is that all you wanted?'

"Yes." He nodded. "Good luck!"

#

Leonard did not have much luck. Whenever Sheldon was not in a class he completely vanished. Leonard even forced himself to ask another person for help during gym class.

"Do you two know where Sheldon Cooper is at outside of class?" he asked Howard and Raj who were running laps beside him.

Raj shrugged. "No."

"I always thought the mother ship beamed him back up to get a mission report." Howard joked. Raj laughed at this.

"Well he isn't in this gym class." He looked around. "And if I can't get him after school I'll have to wait until tomorrow." Leonard sighed.

"Koothrappali! Wolowitz! Other guy! Stop talking like girls at a tea party and run!" they heard their gym teacher shout. Leonard had to take several puffs of his inhaler.

"So who did you kiss at the party Howard?" Raj changed the topic. "Was it that girl with the big breasts?"

"Do you mean Christy or Samantha?"

"Either one…"

"Nope." Howard shook his head.

"Was it that girl with the lazy eye and the stutter?" Raj queried more. "No judgement dude. I heard she is really nice…"

"Nope." He shook his head once again.

Leonard observed this and had to say something. "He is clearly fibbing." He said. "If he really did kiss a girl he'd be boasting about who she is. Guys at my old high school did that all the time."

"Fine!" Howard said with a harsh tone. "It was Bernadette!"

Leonard remembered the girl who seemed very annoyed at Howard's flirting and found himself in disbelief.

"You're lying." Raj added.

Howard shook his head. "I'm not lying."

"Really?" Raj questioned. "Why would Bernadette, who hates you, suddenly decide to kiss you? You didn't get her drunk or anything…"

Howard shook his head. "Once both of you and that Amy girl left the party we were standing to the side, just the two of us." He began to explain. "I began flirting with her and she asked 'What would it take to get me to leave the party'. I said 'A kiss from the most beautiful girl at the party' as like a joke. She said Penny was upstairs with Kurt already engaged in sexual activities. I corrected her and said I meant her. She rolled her eyes and then kissed me on the lips. As agreed I left."

Leonard stopped listening at the part about Penny and Kurt. He found it oddly disappointing that after getting Leonard to leave out the window that she was doing THAT with him. He had to remind himself that what she does with Kurt isn't his business and that he didn't care.

"So it was a pity kiss." Raj said. "Doesn't count."

"It does in MY book." Howard argued.

"Your book must be really short then." Leonard said with sarcasm. Howard gave Leonard a glare and Raj gave a large laugh.

"Good one Leno." Raj complimented

"I prefer Leonard." He corrected.

"I can still see you talking!" the gym teacher shouted. "Do you want to get trodden on in the real world?"

Leonard rolled his eyes and tried to keep a good running pace. He begun to lag behind Howard and Raj due to exhaustion but he didn't need to talk to them anymore that lesson, although he had to admit it wasn't torturous to actually talk to someone.

#

Leonard was at his locker. Once again Sheldon had rushed out of class at the end of the day. Leonard, still exhausted from gym class, could not keep up. He just had to go home and hope for the best the next day.

"Leonard?" he heard a familiar female say. He turned and saw Penny.

"Hey." Leonard greeted.

"What did you think of the party?" Penny queried as a conversation opener. "I don't remember most of it, so it must have been good."

"Jason Bourne must have felt the same way." Leonard joked as Jason Bourne lost his memory at the beginning of his movies.

"Who?" Penny asked. "Was he also at the party?"

"Never mind." Leonard brushed it off. He wondered if she remembered that they danced or that he was in her bedroom. Or even anything she did with Kurt. "The party wasn't really my thing. I don't think I should go to any more of your social events."

Penny shrugged. "I was meant to give you this." she handed him a math's book. "I did some problems before the party. I was hoping you'd look through them." He remembered she did try to give them to him.

"Okay." Leonard said. "I didn't realise the tutoring was occurring outside of study class."

Penny sighed. "I need more than twice a week." She explained. "I need you to help me more."

Leonard shook his head. "I'm sorry Penny." He apologised. "I know you mean well, I think, but if the party taught me anything it was that I don't mix with your world."

"Come on Leonard!" she begged. "You're the only nerd guy, not counting Shelbot, who doesn't just want to get with me. You actually tell me when I'm wrong!"

"No." Leonard refused. "And I need to get home. I'll see you later."

#

Leonard was sitting on his bed after school and was reading a lengthy article on solar power. There was a knock on the door and Leonard looked up to see his father.

"You're home early." Leonard noted.

"So are you." Alfred said. "And my job now has less hours then my one back in New Jersey. Also less pay but your mother had to take the high-paying job at Caltech and be the bread-winner of the family no matter what things I had going on…"

"I get it father." Leonard interrupted. "Excuse my colloquialism but what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about… this." he gestured to Leonard sitting on his bed.

"What about it?" Leonard asked.

"I don't want you spending your time sitting around the house." He explained. "You are in high school! You have more free time then you'll ever have. You need to get out there and talk to people."

"You know what happens when I talk to people…"

"No I don't." he shook his head. "I don't mean to compare siblings but Michael isn't home from school yet. Instead he is training with the football team. Participating in something. I don't want you turn out like… never mind who…"

"You mean my mother?" Leonard asked. "You think if I don't talk to people that I'll become emotionally distant and out of touch with humanity."

Alfred looked confused. It was clear to Leonard that his parenting skills weren't up to it. In New Jersey his father had been working all the time on a very time consuming archaeology project. He'd spent more time with dead children then alive ones. And now he had to adjust to the new parenting paradigm.

"I mean… what do I mean?" Alfred thought aloud. "Oh yes! If you do not find something social to do, I'll have to… umm… force you."

"What?!" Leonard exclaimed.

"If you do not find something to do." Alfred said. "I'm giving you a job. One of my students works in a café at the mall to pay off college. I'm sure he'd love some more help."

Leonard gritted his teeth. "I'll try okay!" he said. "But I can't guarantee anything."

"I knew you would try!" Alfred tried to sound positive after the parenting. He looked over Leonard's shoulder and saw what he was reading. "Solar power?"

"An assignment for science class." Leonard explained. "Except my assignment partner is unreachable. Runs off after each class."

"Have you tried Facebook or email?" Alfred asked. "What other ones are there? Twitbook?"

"I don't know him that well to have him on that." Leonard told him.

"If only you young people knew each other's addresses." Alfred said. "In my day we'd just use the phone book to look someone up."

Leonard eyes opened in realisation. "I do know his address!" he exclaimed. "He lives right next to Penny! Father, you're a genius!"

"Really?" he asked with surprise. It was not often he heard someone give him a compliment in his own home.

Leonard grabbed his car key. "I've gotta go. See ya later."

#

Leonard felt a twinge of awkwardness going back to the street that he was on before for the party. He didn't know if Penny was home or not but he imagined her looking at him walking up Sheldon's driveway and questioning why he'd be hanging out with him and not her. Surely she'd understand given Sheldon was smart like him. Leonard knew he was overthinking it so he tried to get the thoughts out of his mind when he rang the doorbell at Sheldon's home. A middle-aged woman with brown hair opened the door.

"Hello dear." She said with a southern accent. "What can I do for you today?"

"I go to Pasadena High School…"

"I'm sorry but Missy isn't home right now." She told him and gave a comforting smile.

"I want to see Sheldon Cooper?" he questioned. "Maybe this isn't the right house." This woman seemed too nice to be his mother.

"Are you sure?" she questioned. "I hope you aren't joshing me."

Leonard shook his head. "I'm in his science class. We are doing a project together."

"Oh." She realised. "Okay. Come in. Would you like anything? Chocolate milk? Strawberry quick?"

"No but thank you for the offers." Leonard said as he followed her to a dining room. For some reason talking to her made him act nicer.

"I'll go get him." She told him. "You stay here. There is a Bible if you want to amuse yourself." She turned and walked away.

Leonard shrugged and picked up the Bible. He opened it and saw that notes were written all over it. All information on how Sheldon's mother was planning to use the scriptures in her everyday life.

He heard some commotion coming from the other side of the house. "The nice young man came here to see you Shelly!" she heard the same Texan accent argue. "I will not have you sulk over this! What would Jesus say?"

"But mother he sided with Penny when I wanted my sleep…"

"Penny asked us for permission to throw a loud party!" she argued back. "It is not her fault you decided to whine after!"

"The answer is still no…"

"Shelly do I have to quote Psalms at you?" she questioned.

"Don't! I'll talk to him mother!" he heard Sheldon respond loudly. Sheldon's mother walked back into the room followed by a sulking Sheldon Cooper. "What do you want Leonard Hofstadter?" he asked with an annoyed tone.

"Shelly, be nice." His mother warned.

"Gablehauser told me that if you didn't collaborate with me on the assignment that you would fail." Leonard explain.

"Why?" Sheldon asked.

"Maybe because you handed in an assignment with my name on it that only had your work." He said. "Which I'm annoyed at but for some reason this house is quite calming and I don't mind as much."

"I bless this house every day." His mother clarified. "Also my scented candles are meant to be good for meditation and reflection."

"And as a fire hazard!" Sheldon said with anger. "Anyway, Leonard, I thought you'd happily accept when I handed it in. You'd get an A+ without doing any work."

"Shelly." His mother interrupted. "I can quote more than just Psalms if you don't work with this young man."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Our new topic is solar power." Leonard said. "I thought we could both do some research. Do you want to spend some time now…"

"Might as well." Sheldon said. "You don't mind doing it standing outside my room?"

"Whatever makes you comfortable." Leonard said. The two walked towards his room. Leonard looked inside and saw that it was heavily decorated in comic book and movie memorabilia. Leonard took a deep sigh and prepared for this very odd experience.

#

"I thought I could write the conclusion as a summary of whether the amount of energy produced by solar power is beneficial in comparison to the positive environmental aspects." Leonard said loudly from outside Sheldon's room.

"Only if you do it in the exact way I would do it." Sheldon told him whilst typing at his computer within the room.

"I'll try my best Shelly."

"Sheldon!" he argued back. "No one but family calls me anything but Sheldon, Sheldon Cooper, Dr. Cooper or Dr. Sheldon Cooper."

Leonard couldn't help but laugh. "Sure, Shelly."

"You're insufferable." Sheldon said with anger.

"Thanks." Leonard answered with sarcasm.

"That wasn't a compliment." Sheldon didn't get the sarcasm. "Gosh even people in the advanced classes are stupid."

"Just because people aren't up to your very high standards it doesn't mean they're stupid." Leonard said remembering how his mother views the world.

"It makes sense why you and Penny get along." Sheldon answered. "Same IQ probably."

Leonard couldn't help being both annoyed and amused at Sheldon's reaction to him. It felt like this was probably the first major 'hangout' with another student ever. Was this what Leonard's father thought Leonard would turn out like if he didn't talk to people? Leonard looked at his watch and saw that he'd be late for his dinner.

"Hey, Sheldon, I have to leave." He told him.

"Just a second." Sheldon walked out his room and away from Leonard. He returned with a sheet of paper. He handed it to Leonard.

"The Assignment Agreement?" Leonard questioned. "The below rules govern the rights and responsibilities of Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter as acquaintances and colleagues."

"I used all the assignment discussion we just had to write it up and I just printed it." Sheldon explained. "I'd advise you to read all of it before signing."

Leonard read through each point on the page. "Every second school day, starting Tuesday the 17th of January, Leonard and Sheldon shall meet in the library at lunch to collaborate on the assignment. Leonard will not make uninvited house visits. An assignment will not be handed in without both parties consent." He read aloud as he looked at them. Sheldon was looking hopefully for a response.

"I'm not enthusiastic about contracts but these seem reasonable. Well, except this clause where I must sacrifice myself if aliens steal our assignment to make a weapon." Leonard said. He took a pen out and signed the agreement.

"Good night Leonard Hofstadter." He said. Sheldon stepped into his room and shut the door before Leonard could respond. Leonard said goodbye to Sheldon's mother as he walked out of the house. When he walked to his car he saw Penny getting out of one and walking towards her house. She was in a cheerleading uniform which meant she'd just gotten home from practice. The two gave each other a long awkward stare before he got into the car and drove home.

#

Leonard spent that night writing up his part of the report. He tried to make it as perfect as possible because Sheldon would be very picky. Leonard saw his father watch him spend so much time at home and look disappointed.

On the next day, which was Tuesday, at lunch time he walked into the library with his laptop and saw Sheldon in front of a laptop and looking very anxious. Leonard went up and sat next to him.

"It is good to see you followed our contract." He added.

"I literally have nothing better to do." Leonard said. "And isn't that sad." He added to himself.

Two more people walked into library. Leonard saw it was Bernadette and Amy, whom he met at the party. The two sat several tables over from them.

"Here is what I wrote." Sheldon put the laptop in front of Leonard. "Do not touch the keys or the mouse. If you want to read more or need to adjust the screen I will do it."

Leonard read through the paragraphs Sheldon had written and it was really good. Too good for a high school student. "This is great." Leonard complimented. "Now read mine."

Leonard got his laptop out and opened the document. Sheldon read it and Leonard saw him shrug.

"It is okay." He said. "You may need to re-do some of the sentence structure. And are you sure your data is correct?"

"I have my resources in the bibliography." Leonard explained.

"I'll have to check those." Sheldon added.

"As long as I also check your resources too!" Leonard argued.

"I thought mine was good?" Sheldon queried.

"It is." Leonard said. "But if you check my resources I should check yours."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "If that is what your brain wants to do then I can't stop it! Although I wish I could!"

Leonard did not speak. He had several snarky comments float around in his mind but they were either too harsh or too sarcastic for Sheldon.

"Leonard. Why are those two people walking over to us?" Sheldon asked. Leonard looked up and saw Bernadette and Amy walking towards them.

"Double date perhaps." Leonard joked before realising Sheldon wouldn't understand. "That is a joke of course."

Sheldon looked very nervous and began to shake. "What is up with you Sheldon Cooper?" Leonard asked.

"The last time someone came up to me at lunch time they gave me an awful wedgie." He explained. "My genitals were in tremendous pain for several days. It is why I like to hide away from everyone else!"

"Relax, Sheldon." He told him. "These aren't that kind of people from what I've seen. They might find you handsome and charming." He added sarcastically.

"No!" Sheldon put his head in his hands in shame.

"Hello Hoftsladder." Bernadette greeted Leonard in her squeaky voice. "I need to talk to you about Howard. He seems to think… I'm into him. I don't know why."

"You kissed him." Leonard said. Bernadette looked surprised that he knew. "And it is pronounced Hofstadter."

"What?" Amy exclaimed which meant Bernadette had not told her. "I disapprove of your actions."

"Me too!" Sheldon exclaimed. "The exchange of bodily fluids is sure to get you a health issue or two."

"That is what I think." Amy agreed. The two stared at each other with confusion and surprise.

"I don't believe we've met." Sheldon realised. "I'm Sheldon Cooper."

"My name is Amy Farrah Fowler." She greeted. "I've seen you in science class. I also wanted to correct Gablehauser on his mistake about Newton's Three Laws but I'm afraid I was too shy. I was extremely satisfied when you did."

Leonard noticed that Sheldon's face turned a bright shade of red. "I was equally satisfied, I assure you." There was a slight pause.

"Anyways…" Bernadette continued. "Yes we kissed. But it was to get him to go away."

"I don't know too much about romance." Leonard said. "And I don't know much about Howard. We only talk during gym class or when he wants to make a 'deal' with me."

"Well get him to stop!" Bernadette demanded. "I've tried but he makes an annoying creepy smile like he didn't hear me!"

"I'm honestly not that close with him." Leonard argued.

"If you are able to talk to Sheldon for a second then you are able to handle Howard. Got it?" Bernadette demanded. Leonard gulped.

"Why does everyone in California want me to do things?" he asked rhetorically. "I will try. But I might fail."

Bernadette nodded and then turned away from the two.

"I'll see you around." Amy said to the both of them but quite clearly this was directed at Sheldon.

"Not if I see you first…" Sheldon responded before shaking his head. "Where did that come from?" Amy giggled before following Bernadette away from them.

"Alien parasite from the mother ship?" Leonard joked. "Now back to the assignment."

#

Leonard checked through each of Sheldon's references and each was a very credible scientific book or website. He lay down on his bed thinking of how odd Sheldon was. What was someone so smart still doing in high school?

"Leonard!" he heard from the living room. "Can you come here?" Leonard walked to the room and saw his mother and father sitting on the couch.

"What happened?" Leonard asked and he saw one family member not in the room. "Did Michael get in an accident?"

Leonard heard Michael speak loudly from another room. "The only accident I've been in was falling into a woman's…"

"Michael!" Alfred interrupted. "Not appropriate!"

"No, Leonard." Beverly corrected. "Your father has an estranged idea that you need to socialise more."

"I've seen no effort from you since we last spoke about this." Alfred added. "I've gotten you that job at the café. You start tomorrow."

"What?" Leonard said with shock. "I have no idea how to work or how to… talk to people in a formal setting."

"I'm sure people will think you have a formal way of speaking." Alfred tried to defend.

"Anyone who says that is clearly wrong." Leonard rebutted.

"I understand if you don't want to do this." Beverly gave a sly smile. "I am not forcing you to do anything."

"Beverly!" Alfred shouted. "I'm doing what is best for Leonard okay?"

Beverly rolled her eyes. "Drama queen." She stood up and walked out the room.

Alfred sighed. "Please don't make this hard. I warned you and you've done nothing. You will be working at the café tomorrow and that is end of this argument. Okay?"

Leonard knew his father wouldn't back down. "Fine." He responded. "I'll work for the café. Doesn't mean I'll like it." Leonard also walked away, going back to his room to work on the assignment. Now he had less time he needed to make sure he did the most he could then.

 **Merry Christmas everyone! I know that it isn't until a day or two but this will be the last chapter I will publish until after Christmas. Thankfully throughout the hectic pre-Christmas rush I've managed to find refuge in my writing.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter and thanks for reading. It is hard to balance out all the characters especially when I'm only having one POV character but I'm managing. The Help Solution, which is my previous whole cast fiction, had no central POV and that felt easier to write. Some characters will appear less in some chapters and more in others. The last two had more Penny and less Sheldon and this chapter had the opposite. I felt it was time to flesh out Sheldon and get him and Leonard interacting even if it is begrudgingly.**

 **If you wish to keep up with my updates, please favourite or follow here or follow me on tumblr(clintcooper). If you would like to leave any feedback, please review as it is very appreciated and I love reading your opinions. Thankyou everyone who has reviewed so far especially those who have on multiple chapters.**

 **Thank you all again and Merry Christmas :D**

 **Clint Cooper**

 **P.S:** " **qatlh qaparHa'?" roughly translates to "Why do you suck?"**


	5. The Café Disruptions

"Welcome to the Mall Café. What can I do for you this evening?" Leonard re-iterated. He looked at the man in front of him for an answer. Leonard was standing behind a counter at his new job. He was wearing an apron and a cap to cover to his hair both with the café's logo in bright red across them. The café felt cosy with a collection of tables and chairs spread around. Behind Leonard at the counter was a kitchen with a small number of cooks preparing the food.

"Okay. You need to smile when you ask them that." His manager said, who was pretending to be a customer. Leonard gave a fake smile and the man shook his head. Leonard tried again to make his smile look real.

"How about this?" Leonard asked, trying a different smile.

"I'm hoping with some experience you'll get better." He stated, still disappointed in Leonard's expression. "Don't let your father being my favourite professor make me ignore poor job performance."

Leonard's fake smile went back to his normal expression. "It is never very surprising if nepotism goes badly…" he then saw his manager give a glare. "…I mean. I'll try my best..."

"I hope so. I have to go and deal with some of the store finances." He told Leonard. "For the first time you will be doing work without my supervision. If you need any help, ask Priya." He pointed to the girl who was currently waitressing at some of the café's tables. She had luscious black hair and a nice figure, akin to a model's. She had a certain sensuality to her when she walked. Leonard stared for a few moments. "Okay." Was all Leonard said.

"Good luck." His manager said before walking out of the room.

Leonard watched Priya walk back to behind the counter where she was holding an empty tray.

"Hello." She greeted him and Leonard noticed an Indian accent. "I'm Priya. I'm a waitress here but I sometimes work at the counter."

"Yeah." Leonard nodded, without any conversation continuer in his head. The two stood next to each other for a second before someone in the kitchen behind them dinged a bell.

"Someone's food is ready." Priya said. "I have to deal with this." She grabbed a plate of food, put it on a tray and walked away. Leonard sighed. Why did he suddenly have to be stuck in awkward situations with females?

"Hey, I'd like a large cappuccino please in a take-away cup…" he heard a girl say behind him. He turned and saw exactly what he was just thinking about. Penny was standing behind the counter wearing a white short sleeved shirt with yellow over the top and a denim skirt. It was probably the least fashionable thing he'd seen Penny wear. Leonard internally began to feel nervous. "Leonard?" she seemed confused at him being there.

"Hi Penny…" he greeted awkwardly. "You said you wanted a cappuccino?" he began to process the order on the café's cash register.

"With one sugar. Hey, what are you doing at this café?" she asked. "I've been here so many times but you haven't."

Leonard took a deep breath before answering. "I just got this job."

"Oh." She nodded and then giggled. "You look silly in that cap."

Leonard gave a look of derision. "You mean what you're wearing isn't silly."

"This is my cheesecake factory uniform." She explained. "I have a shift and I need some caffeine to keep me awake. The Cheesecake Factory isn't far from here so I usually come here before my work begins."

"That is great." Leonard said sarcastically, not looking forward to awkward conversations every time she came to the café in the future. He looked at the register. "That will be 4 dollars." Penny got some money out and payed Leonard. He remembered what he had been previously trained to do and correctly put the money in the register. "Thankyou. I hope you enjoy your…"

"I need to talk to you." Penny said. "About the tutoring…"

"We've discussed this Penny." He said sternly. "And with this new job I have less time than before."

"I can pay you!" she insisted.

"Money isn't the issue Penny." He explained. "It isn't why I'm working here."

"Hence why Howard payed you 100 dollars to get into my party." She said with a glare and Leonard gulped. She knew he got Howard into the party. "Bernadette told me. Apparently it came up after you left."

"Why don't you get another person to do it?" Leonard asked. "Sheldon or Howard or Raj. Or anyone in the advanced classes like Kripke or Bernadette."

"Sheldon just tells me I'm wrong. Howard is a creep and I don't even think Raj can speak. Bernadette doesn't help me since I began dating Kurt. And Kripke…. I don't even know who that is." She said. "And I can't just ask anyone to help me. I like how you've been tutoring me in study class. I need more of that."

Leonard saw that behind Penny someone had lined up. "I think we should end this discussion. I have someone to serve." Penny, still glaring, moved out of the way and the next customer came up.

"Welcome to the Mall Café. What can I…"

"Whatever, I'd like a large double shot espresso with three sugars please!" he said very quickly. Leonard gave a quick fake smile and put the order into the register system.

#

Half an hour had gone by and many people had come and ordered. Leonard had tried to do his job accurately, giving a smile after every order. The tables at the café were filled with people eating their dinners and people kept running in and out of the shop with a caffeinated beverage. Leonard watched Priya go around to all the tables and she hadn't had much time for a break until then.

She took a deep breath. "It is good when there is break and no orders are ready, right Leonard?" she asked.

"Umm… probably." He said not really knowing if it was actually good.

"Who was that girl who you chatted with earlier?" she pried. "You seemed to know her from somewhere else."

"I know her from school." He told her.

"Oh. Are you two an 'item'?" she asked. Leonard couldn't help but laugh.

"I can't imagine a universe where we'd be an item and I'm happy with that." He told her. "We are very different."

Priya shrugged. "If you know physics you'd know there is an infinite number of universes with an infinite amount of possibilities."

Leonard raised his eyebrow at her talk. "You know physics?" he questioned.

"A bit." She said. "I'm not intending on being a physicist or anything."

Leonard felt impressed. None of the girls, or guys, at his previous school knew anything about physics.

"Excuse me!" someone said from the counter. "Stop chit-chatting and… Leonard Hofstadter?"

Leonard saw who it was and wondered why he was there. "Sheldon Cooper?"

"I'm going to get this over with as soon as possible." He said. "My family would like a meal. Three cheeseburgers. Three Lemonades."

Leonard looked over to a table at the café and saw the familiar look of Sheldon's mother and a young female who he thought he'd seen once walking through the halls of school.

"Is that your sister…"

"Just order my food please." Sheldon interrupted.

"Right, right." He said. He punched in the numbers on the cash register. "That'll be $31.50."

"And that is your fault for sinning, Amy!" Leonard heard from behind Sheldon. He looked and saw Amy Farrah Fowler standing in line with a middle aged woman.

"Mother, I went to a party." Amy tried to rebut. "I didn't drink. I didn't do drugs. I didn't have sex."

"Shush!" the mother exclaimed. "Don't say that word!"

"Here is my mother's card." Sheldon interrupted Leonard listening to them and handed a bank card to him. Leonard got Sheldon to type in the pin code and the meal was ordered. Sheldon was rubbing some sort of soap on his hands and felt confused. He saw Leonard's confused look.

"Hundreds of people each day use that pin machine." He said. "Any of those people could've had malaria."

Leonard nodded. "That makes sense." He added with sarcasm. "Now please go back to your table and we'll bring the meals out." Sheldon nodded and walked to the table with his family. Leonard noticed Sheldon and Amy give each other a small smile when he walked past.

"Welcome to the Mall Café. What can I do for you this evening?" Leonard asked Amy's mother.

"What beverages do you have that don't contain a perverted drug like caffeine?" Amy's mother asked.

Leonard didn't think anyone used the word 'perverted' in such an ordinary context. "We have milkshakes and sodas. We also can just serve water with your meal." Leonard recalled.

"Water will do. What the mighty lord gave to us originally." She said. "And I'd also like a cheeseburger."

Leonard nodded. "And does Amy want anything?" he asked.

Amy was about to speak when her mother interrupted. "No. She is being punished. Right Amy?" she asked. Leonard gave a confused look.

"Yes, mother." She looked down with embarrassment.

Leonard didn't quite understand what was going on so he just decided to keep going with the order. Once Amy's mother had paid the two sat at a table. He noticed Amy kept looking over at Sheldon and his family and that Sheldon looked bored at what his sister was talking about.

#

"I feel sorry for that girl." Priya whispered to Leonard.

"You mean Amy?" Leonard asked.

"If you mean the girl with the glasses and brown hair then yes." Priya added. "Her mother keeps telling her how much of what she has done in Los Angeles was wrong and to not get dragged down by the perversion of the city."

Leonard looked over to their table. Amy's mother was happily eating a cheeseburger whilst Amy was looking down at the table. She then looked across to the table Sheldon was at.

"This burger has too much meat." Sheldon was saying.

"Shelly, it is fine." Sheldon's sister said. "You always complain about the meat and bun ratio but end up eating the whole thing anyway."

Sheldon glared at his sister. "Just because I eat something, it doesn't mean I enjoy it."

"Now, Shelly and Missy." Their mother interrupted in a calm tone. "The lord gave us this meal. Please don't ruin his creation with mean chit-chat."

Amy looked confused like how calmly Sheldon's mother was dealing with her children was very odd.

"What are you staring at Amy?" her mother asked. She turned to see the family she was looking at. "Where you oogling that boy?"

"I wasn't oogling at anyone!" she waved her hands to get her point across.

"Don't lie to me, Amy!" she stood up. "I tried to be nice and let you go out with me. But we are going home!" She took Amy's hand and took her out of the café. Sheldon, his sister and his mother both looked in shock at this outburst but quickly went back to their meal.

"Should we do something?" Leonard asked.

"I'm afraid there is nothing in our work protocols about stopping mothers reprimanding their children." Priya said.

A customer walked up to the customer so Leonard went back to his post. "Welcome to the Mall Café. What can I do for you this evening?"

#

Repetitively saying "Welcome to the Mall Café. What can I do for you this evening?" was getting on Leonard's nerves. And the fact that everyone at Pasadena seemed to like this café. He rolled his eyes when he saw Raj and Howard walk in and expected them to make an order. However, they just stood at the entrance. They were holding a bag which had a comic book store's logo on it.

"There she is!" Howard pointed at Priya and Leonard began to assume based on his history with Howard. He thought that he'd came in to look at waitresses.

"And there Leonard is?" Raj pointed towards the counter where Leonard was.

"Leonard?" Howard questioned. The two walked over to the counter.

"Yes, I know, I work here now." Leonard told them.

"Lame." Raj said. "This place is not what I'd call a good place to work."

"At least it is a place to work." Priya walked up to the counter with an empty tray. "Where do you work again?"

"I don't work." Raj said to her.

"One thing worse than being lame is being broke." Priya said with a smile. The bell rung from kitchen. "I have to go and do my job. Good luck paying off that Lego set." She said whilst glancing at his comic store bag.

Raj had an angry look on his face. "It is a Mystic Warlords of Ka'a box set!" he rebutted but she'd already left. Leonard couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. My parents are loaded. I don't need a job."

"At least I know you can actually talk to girls now." Leonard said as a joke. He recalled the party with Bernadette and Amy when he wasn't speaking at all.

"That is my sister." He told Leonard.

Leonard looked from Raj to Priya and then from Priya to Raj. The accents they both had suddenly sounded similar and he noticed slight facial similarities he hadn't noticed before. "Oh."

"Yes." Howard said. "He only can't talk to girls he can have sex with."

Leonard gave a confused expression. "I'm sure 'can't' is a strong way…"

"Literally, he can't." Howard said. He then saw a girl had just lined up at the counter behind them. The two moved out the way. "Come on Raj. Talk to her."

"No." Raj shook his head.

"I just want to show Leonard the extent of your disorder." He said. He then walked up to the girl. "Hello. This is my friend Raj. He really thinks you're pretty."

The girl blushed. "Really?" and turned towards him. Leonard watched as Raj opened his mouth to talk but then shut it again and gave Howards a glare.

"I see what you mean." Leonard said.

"This is really weird." The girl said. "Can I please order my meal?"

"Sure." Leonard said and took a deep breath. "Welcome to the Mall Café. What can I do for you this evening?" He then heard Howard laughing at his obviously fake delivery of the line. The girl ordered and once she left Raj turned to Howard.

"You're a creep." Raj said in anger at what he did.

Howard gave a smile. "I come as advertised."

"Maybe some people, Bernadette, don't want what is advertised." Leonard said.

"What do you mean?" Howard questioned.

"The gal you kissed has come up to me and asked if I could stop you from annoying her." Leonard explained. "I'd prefer to reduce the amount of interactions I have with people at school. So please, stop."

"Why would I stop?" Howard asked. "I'm not doing anything harmful."

Leonard sighed. "I'm just warning you. If Bernadette comes up to me again with another complaint… I'll tell a teacher that you're harassing her."

"You'll be laughed it for tattle tailing." Howard argued.

Leonard thought for a second and gave a counter argument. "Will they?" he asked. "If it were someone like Kurt, then yes I'd be in big trouble, but you? Will you get Raj to make me feel 'awkward' as a punishment?"

Howard glared at him. "Fine, then! If you don't tell on me, then I won't harass Bernadette anymore." He said with a harsh tone. "Doesn't mean I have to talk to you!" He turned and stormed out of the café.

"Sorry." Raj said to Leonard before turning and following his friend.

Leonard did not know exactly how to feel to Howard's harsh reaction to his request.

"Ouch." Priya said. "I don't think preventing Howard from flirting with someone is a good idea."

"I don't understand the people in this city." Leonard said.

"Howard is just like that." Priya explained. "He flirts with every girl and gets mad when someone prevents him doing that. He once flirted with me and Raj and Howard had a pretty big argument."

"I sense you don't have good feelings about the guy." Leonard thought aloud.

"Nope." She shook her head. "But he is my brother's only friend so I have no choice but to deal with it."

#

"I'm really hungry." Bernadette told Penny. They had just finished their shifts at the Cheesecake factory. A lot of places were now closed at the mall except a few cafes.

Penny gave a smile to Bernadette. "I know the exact place that we can go."

The two walked into the café where Leonard looked half asleep at the counter.

"Excuse me." Came the squeaky voice of Bernadette.

Leonard opened his eyes and saw the two of them. He jumped when he realised how he'd just been looking.

"Oh, umm, welcome to the Mall Café. What can I do for you this night?" he asked.

"Can I please get some fries?" Bernadette asked.

Leonard nodded. "And you Penny?"

"I'll just eat some of ones Bernadette doesn't like." She said. "And since I'm here again…"

"We are not talking about the tutoring again." Leonard said. He noticed Priya was looking at the interaction.

"Why are you even at this job?" she asked. "You say you don't need the money. And I doubt you wanted to talk to people. Is it experience for a resume?"

"No." Leonard responded.

"Is it a parent forcing you?" Priya came up to the conversation with a knowing look on her face. "It is why I work. Not that they push Raj to do the same!"

"Well… yeah." Leonard answered. "My dad thinks I need to socialise."

Penny looked deep in thought for a few seconds. "And I can see from your work ethic that you aren't particularly into this job." Penny said. "Wouldn't it be great to instead of having to talk to hundreds of people you can just help one girl, who you actually know, with her math and have your dad think you are socialising."

Leonard stared at Penny with amazement. He didn't think of that before.

"She is smarter than she looks." Priya added with a curious look on her face.

"Come on, Leonard!" Penny insisted. "I have a test next week. And between my social life, cheerleading, job and... other things I need someone who can just teach me somethings."

Leonard looked at the three girls who were all staring at him for a response. He couldn't walk away from the scenario due to him being payed to be there. "Okay." He said "I'll tutor you. But there is some conditions." Penny's face changed to a smile.

"What conditions?" Penny asked.

"I need to be paid."

"I can pay you." Penny said. "My dad has money and I have a job."

"And secondly." He began. "Kurt or anyone on the football team must not be near us when I am tutoring you. If I see them, I leave."

Penny nodded. "That seems fair." She agreed. "We have a deal!"

#

Leonard was tired after his shift at work and when he returned home his father was waiting for him.

"How was your first day?" he asked.

"Pretty bad." He said. "So, I quit."

Alfred's face became harsh. "What?" he said with an angry tone. "Leonard, I can't have you..."

"Before you tell me that what I did was wrong and how I need the job to socialise, I think you should know I got another job." Leonard told him.

"What job?"

"I'm going to be a tutor." He said. "There are people at school who aren't as smart as I am and that would be a great way to get to know them by helping them."

Alfred gave a suspicious look. "Are you telling the truth?" he asked.

Leonard nodded. "I start this weekend. I'll be getting paid and everything"

"I'm not sure." Alfred thought. "I don't know if tutoring is enough…"

"Dad, I managed to get this job by myself." Leonard began. "I have a sense of accomplishment now. My development during childhood thanks to an over-critical parent harrowed my self-esteem and I feel this can raise my umm…. self-esteem?"

"I forget sometimes that you were raised by a psycho-ologist." Alfred said in a mocking tone towards Beverly. "I'll let you do this tutoring. But I need to see evidence that you are trying with this. Okay?"

Leonard nodded in agreement. "Okay."

#

"So, Leonard, is it true that you quit your job after one day?" his mother asked the next day when she, Leonard and Michael were eating breakfast. "Were you ashamed by your poor progress socially and at understanding basic work-place rule?"

Leonard gave his mother an obvious look of disapproval. "I did quit." Leonard said. "But it was only because I got another job."

"As a tutor." Beverly shook her head in disappointment. "That doesn't count. I must hypothesise that you were ashamed." She began writing this down.

"Who will you be tutoring?" Michael asked with curiosity.

"That Penny girl." He told Michael. "The one who hosted the party."

"Does Kurt know you're tutoring his girlfriend out of school hours?" he asked.

Leonard shrugged. "I don't know what Penny tells Kurt."

"And what about what I tell Kurt?"

Leonard gulped but tried to keep a straight face on. "You can tell him whatever you want."

"I wouldn't want him to be jealous." Michael gave a sly smile. "It would so tragic if he began to bully you again."

Leonard's phone interrupted Michael's teasing and began to buzz. Leonard checked it and saw he had a message. It was a physics joke and he couldn't but help laugh.

"Who is that?" Beverly asked curiously.

"That isn't important." Leonard said.

Suddenly Michael snatched the phone from Leonard's hand. "Who the hell is Priya?" he asked.

"She is just a girl who worked with me." Leonard told them. "We exchanged numbers. No big deal."

Beverly looked stunned that he was texting any girl. "And do you expect a relationship to form? I expect given your clinginess to me as a child that you think every woman would be a sexual option."

Leonard felt himself going red but shook his head. "I don't think she will be a sexual option." He said. "And can you please stop asking stupid questions? You sound like you're making all this stuff up."

"My questions are only stupid questions to stupid people." Beverly stood up after this response and walked away from the table.

"Wow, two girls." Michael said with astonishment. "My brother actually has some game."

"Having game would imply that I want to be playing the game." Leonard argued. "Which I am not."

 **Thanks for reading this chapter. I've spent the last week or so with family and going to see some movies (Moana and La La Land) so I didn't have much time to write until I am now. This chapter is an in-between for the plot lines and glances at some of the characters outside of their school environments. Next chapter will be fun as Leonard tutors Penny and continues to text Priya. And there should be some Shamy and some continuation of the Howard and Bernadette plot. It should be more interesting than this chapter.**

 **If you wish to leave feedback, please review and if you wish to follow this story please favourite and follow on here or follow me on tumblr(clintcooper).**

 **Thank you all again, and best wishes for 2017.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	6. The Audition Excursion

Despite all the recent socialising he'd been doing Leonard still opted to spend his lunch break alone. He sat at a small table in the cafeteria by himself and was trying to eat his packed sandwich so he could leave as soon as possible. Across the cafeteria was a larger table with football players and cheerleaders. Penny was sitting at the table and Kurt put her hand around her. She didn't seem to notice. The only people at the table who weren't conventionally popular were Bernadette and Amy who were sitting at the other side of Penny. When some of the football players began a burping competition those two stood up and left as quickly as they could.

Leonard felt his phone buzz in his pocket. There was a 'no phone policy' at the school but everyone knew this was a rule that didn't need to be followed. Leonard got his phone out and looked at the text he received.

 _I'm finally on lunch break. But being at this girl school is sooooo boring – Priya_

He felt glad that she'd texted and immediately responded.

 _I can switch places with you if you'd like :P – Leonard._

 _Good idea. You'd fit right in :P – Priya_

Leonard laughed at the joke.

"What are you laughing at?" he heard the familiar voice of Sheldon Cooper. He sat in the seat next to Leonard and had his arms crossed very tightly.

"It's nothing." Leonard said.

Sheldon looked at the phone and saw who he texting. "Wasn't Priya the waitress at the café you work at?"

"Worked at." Leonard corrected. "And you can't tell Raj I'm texting her. Priya told me not to."

"Secret keeping!" Sheldon exclaimed. "I can't!"

"Too bad." Leonard said. "By looking at my phone, without permission, you've violated the privacy between a texter and …um… textee?"

Sheldon gave a glare. "That makes more sense than I thought it would from you." He said. "You've shown more aptitude than expected from your mother's books."

"Oh… thanks." Leonard said. "And I wouldn't tell anyone about those either."

"One secret at a time!" Sheldon requested. "And don't take what I said as a compliment. The books made you out like an idiot and you are not an idiot. Just below average intelligence."

Leonard gave the glare this time. "What are you doing sitting next to me Sheldon?" he changed the topic.

"I'm meaning to discuss the assignment since we are meant to be meeting the library today in five minutes." Sheldon said. "But the library is closed for maintenance."

"Oh right." Leonard remembered the morning notices. "I was going to finish my lunch and head to the library. No eating in the library as you probably are aware."

"Well, I'm happy to inform you I've done all my parts of the assignment." Sheldon told him. "And I'd like to collate our separate work into a whole report."

"I haven't finished." Leonard said. "I'll do it this weekend."

"Can't you do it tonight?" Sheldon asked.

"I'm tutoring Penny tonight."

"Oh." Sheldon nodded. "You do realise that tutoring her will not mean you'll get to have coitus with her."

Leonard was shocked and Sheldon's bluntness. "Whatever, Sheldon. I'll get it done. We have a week until the due date."

"By now, if I were working on my own, I'd have handed in my assignment and I'd have given a grade!"

"You give yourself a grade?" Leonard questioned.

There was a laugh and Leonard saw Howard and Raj sit down across from the two of them. Howard began to explain. "He gives grades about whether the assignment was good enough."

"No teacher has gotten higher than a B-." Raj chimed in.

"Well maybe if more effort were put into the assignment and they weren't just copied from the school board's web-page I'd consider giving a higher grade." Sheldon justified. Howard laughed once again.

"Howard has something to say to you." Raj reverted. "Don't you?" He looked straight at Howard and Howard rolled his eyes.

"Raj wants me to apologise for my… conduct at the café." Howard said. "Apparently getting angry wasn't justified."

Leonard nodded. "You don't need to apologise." Leonard said. "I was just told by Bernadette to get you to stop harassing her."

"And if she asks I'll tell her you tried your best." Howard said. "And since Christy has a test soon I'm going to get some under the shirt action if I text her during it."

"What is 'under the shirt action'?" Sheldon asked. "Is it some type of movie?"

There was a moment of awkward silence as the four didn't say anything outside from a small laugh from Howard.

"Did anyone see the new episode of the Flash?" Raj asked.

"That episode was really intense." Howard said.

"I've been meaning to watch that." Sheldon told them. "But I don't think I can commit to a new television show right now."

Leonard observed the group of four that were sitting at the small table. Something felt oddly familiar about it and he tried to remember. Something in his memory made him feel like the four had sat together and ate at a different time. And then it was a gone and Leonard realised it was déjà vu.

A buzzing phone in Leonard's pocket interrupted his thoughts.

"Should you get that?" Raj asked. Leonard gulped.

Leonard stood up. "I should. I'll see you all later… maybe." He turned to leave.

"Leonard, if I were you I'd change the name in your phone." Sheldon said. "You don't need a certain, Ronald, seeing that you're texting… Priscilla."

Raj and Howard looked at Leonard with confusion.

"umm… sure." He nodded. "And I'll give Priscilla your regards." He said with sarcasm and walked away.

#

That evening Leonard walked up to the door of Penny's house and rung the bell. The man who opened it was middle-aged.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Penny's tutor." Leonard explained.

"Oh, right." He said. "She told me about that. Come in." He gestured into the house and Leonard walked in. He looked around and saw the same place he went to for the party but it was considerably more suburban then he remembered. Instead of loud music and beer drinking teens he just felt quiet and calm. Whoever cleaned up the house after the party must have done a good job.

"Your tutor is here, slugger!" he said loudly.

"I'll be down in a sec, dad!" Penny shouted from upstairs.

"When she says 'a sec' she really means a lot longer than a second." Penny's father laughed. "Would you like something to drink or eat?"

"I'm fine." Leonard said. Why were parents so nice all of a sudden? First Sheldon's mother and now Penny's dad. This was very contrasting to Leonard's mother.

"I'm pretty happy that Penny is doing this." her dad said. "I've been meaning to get her to take her studies seriously, but she only listened when she was almost kicked of the squad."

"That's nice."

"Do you know Kurt?" he asked Leonard.

"I am very familiar with Kurt." Leonard asked. "My smashed glasses are also very familiar with him."

"Oh." He nodded. "Kurt is an interesting one. I know it is none of my business but I think Penny would be better off dating someone with some muscle in his head."

Leonard gulped. What was he hinting at? "If Penny wanted someone with more muscle in his head, she'd be dating someone with more muscle in his head." He said honestly.

Penny's father sighed. "I guess you're right."

The two heard Penny walk down the steps and to the two of them.

"Hello Leonard." She gave a smile. She'd done her make-up and brushed her hair.

"You do know we are doing the tutoring here, right?" Leonard said.

"Yeah." Penny nodded. "Come upstairs and we can begin."

"Have fun!" her father said as the two walked to her bedroom.

"You know you don't have to do your hair and make-up when I come over." Leonard said. "I don't care how you look."

Penny looked thoughtful for a second like what Leonard said was new but then shrugged. "I care how I look." Penny rebutted. "And before we begin the tutoring, I should tell you Bernadette and I were talking about you today."

"I don't need to know your private conversations." Leonard said. "Unless you're talking about finding out my true reason for moving schools. Did I mention I was in witness protection?"

Penny laughed. "Very funny." She said. "No. We were talking about how Bernadette asked you to help with Howard."

"I did that." He said. "I don't think Howard took me seriously. He just boasted about getting action with Christy to keep him occupied."

Penny cringed. "I don't get her. Why would anyone let Howard touch their breasts?"

"Probably daddy issues that led to low self-esteem." Leonard said. Penny looked at him with confusion. "My mother's a psychologist."

"What does that mean?"

"She studies the brain and how we think." Leonard explained.

"Oh." Penny said and nodded. The two stood in the room for a few seconds before Penny sat at her desk. "We should begin. I have a test next week."

Leonard nodded. "Right. We were doing quadratics."

#

Leonard and Penny had lost track of time as they worked through problems and practice quizzes. After some time, Penny was working on a hard question and was attempting to do it without Leonard's help as if it were a test.

"I know you can do this, Penny." Leonard encouraged.

Penny gave a small laugh. "Maybe you should join the cheer squad."

"I can try-out after you've finished this problem." Leonard said sarcastically. "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed your cheerleading uniform for it?" he looked over where this uniform was hanging nearby and saw it was a skimpy shirt and skirt.

Penny laughed. "You're funny, Leonard." She said. She re-examined the problem and began to write down some maths. Leonard watched and felt impressed that she was actually accomplishing something. But suddenly she stopped writing.

"Oh my gosh! What the hell do you do now?" she said.

"Just think back to what I told you." Leonard said.

"I know!" Penny said and kept looking. "Why am I so stupid?!"

"You're not stupid, Penny…"

"Wait." She realised and then began writing. "I think I got it. Is the answer 2/3?"

Leonard looked at the answer in the book and saw it was 2/3. "Yes. You got it right!"

Penny couldn't help but yelp in excitement. "I actually got it right!"

Suddenly Leonard's phone buzzed and he looked at it. Penny saw who had texted him.

"Who is Priscilla?" Penny asked.

"Its… hard to explain." He said.

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" She asked.

"No. I only met her recently." He explained. "And since she doesn't go to my school she doesn't stop my mission to keep to myself at school."

"Do you like her? Or do you 'like like' her, if you know what I mean?"

"I am familiar with using a word twice to emphasise a point." Leonard said. "And I don't know…"

"Excuse me." Penny's father was standing at the door. "Dinner is ready. I thought you'd be done by now. Wasn't your tutoring meant to be for an hour?"

"How long has it been?" Penny asked.

"Two hours." He said.

"Two hours!" Leonard realised. "I need to get home. My father usually makes dinner!"

"I'll be down in a few minutes, dad." Penny gave her dad a smile. He nodded and left the two of them alone again. Leonard began making sure all his things were in his bag.

"I don't have to pay you for the extra hour, right?" Penny asked.

Leonard shook his head. "I should've realised the time. You can just pay me for the hour."

Penny smiled. "Cool." She said. "Hey, Leonard, I can trust you right?"

Leonard wondered what prompted this question. "What do you mean?"

"If I wanted to keep something private or if I needed your help, you would try your best to be a good friend about it?"

Leonard didn't know what he actually felt about this but he nodded. "Probably."

"That is good to hear Leonard." She said. Leonard grabbed his bag and walked out of the room. Penny followed him downstairs.

"Good bye Leonard." She smiled.

"Goodbye." He said and left the house.

#

When Leonard arrived home he saw Michael and his father sitting at the dinner table in complete silence. They both had half-eaten pieces of lasagne on their plates. Leonard put his bag down and sat at the table where there was a third plate of lasagne.

"How was the tutoring?" Leonard's father asked.

"It was good." Leonard said without any more explanation.

"It must've been good considering you were gone for an extra hour or so." His father said. He looked happy that his son was doing something.

"I bet he and Kurt's girlfriend were doing more than just tutoring." Michael hinted.

"Grow up, Michael." Leonard said harshly.

"I'm not the one who needs to grow." Michael gave a sly smile with his rebuttal. Despite being younger, Michael was a lot taller than his brother.

"Do you two always have to act like this?" their father asked. "Why do you have to argue back and forth?"

Leonard and Michael looked at each other but neither thought of a response.

"I didn't realise this was happening when I was working all the time but spending more time with the two of you has shown me how you really feel for each other." He continued.

"Father…" Leonard began but Michael interrupted.

"I think I know why." He said. "You and mother also argue all the time. As children we take after our parents. In mother's books she said…"

"I don't care about Beverly's books." He said. "Most of them are… a word I can't say in front of my children."

"I think we can imply from context." Leonard said.

Alfred sighed. "You two need to be better brothers to each other." Leonard and Michael glanced at each other and knew they would not attempt this.

"Ok." They both lied.

"So, Leonard. Tell us more about the tutoring." Alfred said.

"Well… she has potential." He said. "Once she understands something she can get stuff done."

#

 _Hello Sheldon Cooper_

 _I have finished my sections of the assignment and have attached it to this email. I have also read what you have done and it is very good. If you could collate our work and email the final product to me, I can give the 'okay' to hand it in._

 _Thankyou_

 _Leonard Hofstadter._

Leonard re-read the email several times to make sure it was 'Sheldon-worthy' and then sent it. He felt a feeling of relaxation now that he'd finished his part of the assignment. There was no more homework he had left to do that weekend.

His phone buzzed and he looked at it, expecting some sort of physics joke from Priya. Instead he saw it was Penny ringing him. He swiped to accept the call and put the phone to his ears.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Thank goodness you answered!" she sounded exasperated. "My car won't start. I need to be somewhere urgently!"

"I'm not sure this is part of our tutoring thing." Leonard said. "And can't Kurt or Bernadette drive you?"

Penny's voice raised. "I'm going somewhere I don't want them to know about okay?" she almost shouted. "Please! I need some help!"

"Okay, I'll drive you there." Leonard agreed hesitantly. "I'll be over there in a few minutes."

Leonard said goodbye and hung up. He grabbed his car keys and began to walk out.

"Where are you going?" Alfred asked. He and Beverly were sitting nearby.

"Penny called me." He explained. "Needs a…. emergency tutoring session."

"Have fun." Alfred said.

"You're lying." Beverly said with a suspicious look. "Not about her calling you. About the tutoring session."

"Please don't, Beverly." Alfred said. "We want him to be with friends."

"Do we, Alfred?" Beverly questioned. "Do we really?"

Leonard rolled his eyes as he saw an argument between them brewing. "I don't care if you think I'm lying mother." Leonard said without thought. "See you later." And left before they could say another word.

#

Leonard rang the doorbell of Penny's house and the door opened. Penny was wearing a skin-tight dress and had hear hair and make-up done.

"Finally!" she said. "Thank you for doing this."

"Where are we going?" Leonard queried and got his car keys out.

"20 Darling Avenue." She said.

"I don't know where that is." Leonard said.

"I'll drive then!" Penny said, taking the car keys from him. "Do you want to come or stay here?"

Leonard shrugged. "I guess I'll come along." He said. Penny sat in the driver's seat and Leonard in the seat next to her. He took a deep breath and wondered how it all got to him taking a ride with Penny. Penny started the car and drove off.

It seemed to Leonard that Penny had either too little or too much control over the accelerator and brake. She was likely to slam her foot on the one she needed and sometimes didn't indicate when necessary.

"Do you want me to tutor you on driving as well." Leonard joshed. Penny gave him a confused look. "I'm joking." He clarified.

"I get the message." She said. "It isn't my car, so I should try and drive carefully."

"I don't think anyone but me has driven this car." Leonard said. "My parents bought me it when I moved here. It was from this old dude on the internet and it had been gathering dust for years."

"I can tell." Penny said. "My car isn't much better either. At least the engine in this one doesn't make odd noises all the time."

There was a moment of silence as no one talked.

"What music do you have?" Penny asked.

"Nothing really." Leonard said "I usually just play stuff off of my phone."

"Cool." She said. "Do that."

Leonard gulped. He wasn't exactly confident in his music tastes. He pressed play and the familiar Star Wars theme played.

Penny nodded her head to it. "This is interesting. I've never heard this before."

"You've never heard the Star Wars theme?" he said in shock.

"Is that the one with the guy with the pointy ears?" she questioned.

Leonard shook his head. "I should give you my copy of it."

"We could just watch it together." She said. She then added. "As friends."

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea. What we're doing now is weird enough." He said. "But I am wondering. Where are we going to?"

"You have to promise to keep this a secret." Penny said.

"I hope we aren't hiding Kurt's dead body." Leonard joked. "Actually maybe I do hope that."

"You're lucky I know you're kidding." Penny said.

"I'm going to keep it a secret Penny. It is not like I have anyone to tell." He said.

"Good point." She said. "I'm going to an audition. For a movie."

"A movie?"

"Yeah, I know." Penny sighed. "I'm another pretty wannabe actress. But I love acting. Once this part for a teenage girl came up I had to put my resume in. And they asked me to audition."

"I'm impressed." Leonard said.

She took a deep breath. "I hope they are too."

#

Leonard sat in his car, waiting for Penny after she walked into her room for the audition. His phone buzzed and he saw it was Priya.

 _Hey. What u doing – Priscilla_

 _Nothing 2 important – Leonard_

 _Call me then – Priscilla._

Leonard didn't have much experience with talking to people on the phone and knew he was bad at it. However he was alone, so it wasn't like there was much else to do. He dialled and she answered.

"Hello." Leonard said.

"Hey." Priya's familiar voice said from the other end. "How are you?"

"I'm quite bored." He said honestly. "I'm waiting in a car."

"Why?" Priya asked.

"Umm…." Leonard began to think of something that didn't involve another pretty girl. "My father is doing something… else… outside the car… You probably wouldn't want to know the details."

"That is okay Leonard." She said. "I'm pretty bored too. I've done all my homework but the only people home are my siblings. And all they like doing is watching Stargate."

"I kinda like Stargate…"

"It would be nice to have someone else to do stuff with." She said. "Do you want to go out sometime?"

"Go out?" Leonard questioned.

"Yeah. Texting is fun but might get old quick." She said. "We could go out to a restaurant or a movie or anywhere. As long as none of my family members are nearby."

"I'm not sure… what kind of 'go out' do you mean?"

"Like a date. Why do you think I've been texting you Leonard?" she asked.

Leonard gulped. He did suspect something was happening with all the texting but not that it'd happen so soon.

"Umm… I'm not sure…"

"Have some fun, Leonard!" she insisted. "After my shift on Thursday you can pick me up and we can do anything we want!"

"Okay…"

"That is great!" she seemed excited. Leonard was sure he was meant to be feeling excited too but he just felt panic at going on a date.

At that moment Leonard saw Penny walking back to the car. "I've got to go Priya. My father is coming back. Bye." He said quickly. He hung up and Penny walked in. She took a deep breath when she did so.

"Car keys?"

"Right." Leonard got the keys out and gave it to her. "How was the audition?"

"I don't know." she shrugged.

"Was it good or bad or…"

"I don't know." she put her head in her hands and Leonard saw tears. He sat awkwardly not knowing quite what to do. He remembered back to his experiences with crying. Mostly it was just him or one of his siblings doing so and his mother saying some blunt truth about the world.

"At least you aren't dead." He said out loud thinking of what his mother said when he fell of his bike as a six-year-old.

"Aren't dead?" Penny didn't seem comforted by this.

"I mean… at least… you did it… maybe…"

Penny nodded like she understood but didn't stop crying. "That was my first every official audition for a proper studio, not just some amateur stage play." She said. "I didn't know what I was doing or how the audition process worked. I looked like an idiot."

"You didn't look that smart when doing your first quadratic." Leonard thought aloud. "But when you did a few and got practice you did… well."

Penny nodded. "You're right." She put the key in the ignition and began to drive. She wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. "I don't think my acting at the audition was that bad though. I might still get the part."

#

Leonard arrived home and saw his mother sitting in the lounge room. Michael and his father where nowhere to be seen.

"How was the pretty girl?" Beverly asked in a derogatory manner.

"I didn't think you were interested in my tutoring." Leonard said back.

"You are correct. I was just fulfilling my social obligations." She admitted.

"Where is father?" Leonard questioned. He heard his mother give a small chuckle.

"We continued talking about your social life and he had one of his 'tempter tantrums'." She said. "He stormed out. He could be in China for all I know."

Leonard didn't think much of this. His parents had small arguments like this all the time. Soon enough his father would return home and life would continue as before.

"Are we done with this inane chit-chat?" she asked.

Leonard nodded. "Didn't you start this inane chit-chat?" He gave a sly smile.

Beverly shook her head. "You continuing this conversation made it inane." She said. "Just like your father does. I see where you get it from."

Leonard rolled his eyes and walked away to his bedroom. He saw he had an email back from Sheldon.

 _To Leonard Hofstadter_

 _I had to fix some of your awful sentence structure but otherwise your work was satisfactory. I've collated our work and attached the file. Once you've checked it, you can send me confirmation and I can print it. Then we can hand it in tomorrow._

 _Sheldon Cooper._

Leonard opened the document and began reading. As expected Sheldon's paragraphs were perfect.

 **Thank you for reading! It's been a week because I've been busy over New Year's but I've now managed to write something. There was one more scene here with Amy and Bernadette but I didn't like it so I cut it out, which explain why they aren't featured much in this chapter. Hopefully they can be in the next chapters.**

 **Please favourite, follow and/or review if you wish to leave feedback. Follow me on tumblr(clintcooper) too.**

 **Thank you again.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	7. The Teacher Assessment

Leonard and Penny sat at the desk in her bedroom on the next Wednesday night after he drove her to the audition. Penny was staring intently at a particularly difficult mathematics problem. Leonard waited for her, to see if she could complete it. Penny had her test the next day and requested extra tutoring for the night before. Leonard watched as she wrote down some mathematical calculations and then tapped some buttons on a calculator. She continued to write until she put her pen down and took a deep breath.

"I got -9/8 and 7 for when the thing is zero." She said. "Is that correct?"

Leonard looked down at the answer. "It is correct." He said with a smile. "I think you are very ready for your test tomorrow."

Penny sighed. "I don't know." she said. "I don't know if I can do these without your help."

Leonard gave a confused look. "You just did that question without my help." He pointed out.

"I guess it is comforting having you there in case I need help." She admitted. "I think I might be nervous and my mind will go blank and…"

"Leave the overthinking to people like me." He said. "Just remember everything I've told you and you'll at least get a C. You only need a C to pass and stay on the cheer squad."

Penny nodded. "I know you're right." She said. "Thank you Leonard. I'm hoping after this test that you can still tutor me. Maybe in more than just maths."

"You want more tutoring?"

"I know you're good at science." She said. "And in other subjects."

Leonard shrugged. "As long as I have the time." He tried to not commit himself too much. "Speaking of time, I should get home. Good luck with the test tomorrow."

"I'll need it." Penny said. "Thank you for the tutoring."

"Okay." Leonard said. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Penny gave a wave. Leonard walked out of the bedroom and out of the house.

#

Leonard opened the door to his house and felt like going to his room and falling asleep. He'd been having some sleepless nights. He couldn't help stressing over all the socialising he'd been doing and all the socialising he would do in the future. Including his first ever date. He walked towards his bedroom and saw his father sitting on a couch, drinking.

"You're back!" Leonard felt happy. He'd been gone longer than expected after his parent's fight but like he predicted, he had returned.

"Hello, Leonard." He greeted. "You aren't usually out this late."

"My student has a test tomorrow." Leonard explained. "She requested extra tutoring."

"You've been spending a lot of time with this girl." He said. Leonard knew his father wanted to ask if him and Penny were becoming romantic but didn't want to seem like he was intruding.

"Nothing is happening." Leonard put it bluntly. "In fact, I have a date tomorrow night with a different girl."

"Who?"

"I met her whilst at the café." He explained. "She is smart and funny and quite attractive."

"I'm happy for you Leonard." He said and took a sip of his drink. Leonard saw it was some sort of alcohol.

"Are you okay, father?" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Leonard." He said.

"Are you sure?" Leonard questioned. "I haven't seen you for days and you're sitting here drinking alcohol."

"You're just pointing out fact." He rebutted. Leonard knew this meant he didn't want to talk about it.

"Have you spoken to mother since you got home?" Leonard asked.

"No." he shook his head. "She must be working late. That is probably for the best."

Leonard knew this was true. Who knows what condescending arguments his mother would bring up if she'd been home when he came back.

For the past few days he'd been at home with his brother and mother and it hadn't been very pleasant. Whenever his father wasn't home, it reminded him of why he was important in his life.

Leonard couldn't help but yawn. "I'm going to sleep. Or at least, try to." he said. "Good night." Leonard walked to his bedroom, changed into his pyjamas and lay on his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. But he couldn't stop thinking of his date with Priya and Penny's math test. And Penny in general.

#

Leonard sat in silence as he ate his lunch at the cafeteria the next day. The big table of popular people was half-occupied and Penny was not there yet. He began to fidget as he wondered how her test had gone.

His thoughts were interrupted when Howard and Raj sat across from him.

"They say it is pretty bad." Howard said.

"I really liked it!" Raj said. "Oh, hello Leonard." He half-greeted. Leonard gave a nod. Every day that week Leonard had chosen to sit at the smaller table, alone, and Howard and Raj had voluntarily sat with him. There were always disagreements between the two he had to settle and the constant reminder, thanks to Raj's relation to Priya, that he had a date coming up.

"I'm going to Raj's to watch Suicide Squad." Howard explained. "I haven't seen it yet."

"Have you seen it?" Raj asked.

"Yeah." Leonard nodded. "It was okay." He added.

"You should come over tonight and watch it with us." Raj offered. "I'll be home alone so we can eat as much junk food as we want."

"No I have a…. a…. something tonight." He said remembering Priya didn't want Raj to know.

"I think he doesn't want to hang out with us." Howard said.

"You must be psychic." Leonard said sarcastically. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Penny had just entered the cafeteria. She had a smile on but this could mean anything.

"Well look at that jelly shake." Howard was also looking at Penny, and clearly not at her smile. "I don't need to be psychic to know that'd be a good time."

Leonard felt an odd amount of anger at that very moment. Thanks to living with his mother, he had the ability to hide anger with a snide comment. So instead of reacting harshly he just stood up calmly. "I need to go to the nurse because you what you just said made me sick. Excuse me." Leonard gave a sly smile and walked away.

#

"And that will be the end of today's lesson on Coulomb's Law." Gablehauser said at the end of lesson. "Can I please see Bernadette, Sheldon, Amy and Leonard after class. Everyone else may leave. And don't forget your assignments are due tomorrow!"

The entire class quickly walked out the of class, except the four he said to stay behind. Leonard, Sheldon, Bernadette and Amy all walked up to the teacher's desk.

"I am very happy that both of your groups handed in your assignments early." He said. Earlier that week Sheldon and Leonard had handed in their completed report and it seemed Amy and Bernadette had done the same. "I've graded them already and was very impressed." He reached into the desk and got out two reports and put it in front of them. Both of them said 'A+' on them. Leonard couldn't help but smile. He usually got an A for his work but A+ might show his mother that he wasn't the 'weak link' in the family. "I am very impressed with the effort and research put into them. And the teamwork."

"Bernadette and I functioned successfully during our collaboration." Amy told him.

"Did you read the grade I gave you, Gablehauser?" Sheldon questioned. Sheldon had handed in an evaluation of the assignment with their report.

Gablehauser sighed. "I don't have to but I did. Not that I care that I got a C."

"I would've given a C+ for how well the guidance questions were carefully worded." Amy spoke up.

"I noted that too. The teamwork aspect reduced it to a C." Sheldon explained.

"Oh." Amy said. "I decided it wasn't logical to include the teamwork aspect into the grading…"

"You all may leave now." Gablehauser interrupted. "Good job on all your assignments."

The group of four walked out of the science classroom.

"It is nice to see someone else grades the assignments." Sheldon said to Amy.

"I don't hand it in to the teacher." Amy said. "I just think about it. I've thought that it should be a part of our official assessment. Like a customer satisfaction survey."

Sheldon gave a smile. "That is very clever." He said. "We should go out and talk about it."

Leonard eyes opened in shock. "You do know what message your sending when asking a girl to 'go out'." He said.

"I'd like to discuss other teacher assessment options." He said confused. "I don't know what you're on about it."

"I believe Leonard is implying you'll make me think you're initiating a romantic relationship." She explained. "I find romantic relationships unnecessary and even if Sheldon initiated, I would object."

"I have the exact same opinion." Sheldon said. "Leonard, I sometimes begin to think you aren't not smart but then you go and insinuate something like that."

"We should discuss a time and place to discuss." Amy said. "Anywhere that doesn't serve alcohol"

Sheldon nodded. "Goodbye Leonard. Working with you was not fun but was not the torture I expected."

"Thanks Sheldon." Leonard said with sarcasm. "Not even my mother would say something that nice." This was a joke but Leonard knew there was truth behind it.

Sheldon and Amy walked off and continued to talk. Leonard and Bernadette walked awkwardly together for a few seconds towards their lockers.

"How is the tutoring going?" Bernadette questioned to stop the silence.

"Well… Penny has a test today." Leonard said. "I think she was ready for it."

"She seemed really happy with her progress when I spoke to her at work the other day." Bernadette said. "It was certainly more stimulating conversation then when she discusses Kurt or the cheer squad."

"Umm… she wants me to do more tutoring." Leonard said. "I don't know if I should get more involved. I…. uh…. with her dating Kurt I don't want to look like I'm trying to take her."

"Would you try and date her if he died or something?" Bernadette questioned. Leonard looked at her with disdain.

"Well obviously she'd need a shoulder to cry on." He joked. "In actuality… I wouldn't. I'm actually a bit preoccupied in the romantic department right now."

"Really?" she looked surprised.

"I have a date tonight." He told her.

"Who?"

"I can't actually say…"

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know…"

"What will you be wearing?"

"I haven't decided."

"You're a real conversationalist, you know that?" Bernadette said with annoyance. "I can't even imagine how Penny gets through those tutoring sessions."

Leonard took a deep breath. "Hypnotism." He said with sarcasm and disdain. "Goodbye, Bernadette." And he walked by himself to his locker.

#

Leonard stood in front of his closet looking at his clothes. He couldn't decide which of his clothes to wear. He knew he could've picked anything and Priya probably wouldn't have cared but it was his first date ever and he needed it to be right. But the date was intensifying his stress. He began re-thinking the restaurant he had chosen and over-analysing conversation starters. He decided this had to stop, so he went to grab his phone to cancel, planning to be 'sick'.

"Why are you just looking at clothes?" he hard Michael at his doorway. "You were like that ten minutes ago when I walked past and still like that now."

"I don't want to discuss this with you Michael." Leonard said.

"It's the date, isn't it?" he questioned. Leonard gave a confused look as he had not told Michael. "Father was boasting about it. He seems very happy you got a date. Like him pushing you to get a job was why you've got it."

"Well he'll be disappointed." Leonard said. "I'm going to cancel the date. I can't take the pressure."

"I expected as much. So did mother." Michael said. "I guess it is a lot more pressure if you're looking for something long term."

Leonard knew exactly what this meant. Michael was not into long-term relationships and when he went on a date it was with the intention of having a one-night stand. "I'm not getting advice from you Michael." Leonard made it clear.

Michael laughed. "I'm an expert on this Leonard, unlike you." He told him. "Just imagine this is the only time you'll ever see this girl ever. No pressure, right?"

"Go away, Michael." Leonard said.

Michael laughed once again and walked away. Leonard looked at the phone he just grabbed and then thought about the advice he was just given. Was he really thinking of taking Michael's advice? He shook his head and texted her.

 _I'm really sick. I have to cancel. Maybe another time. – Leonard._

 _#_

Leonard sat down in study class the next day. When Penny walked in the classroom she sat in the chair next to Leonard.

"Because of the test I don't actually have any math homework." She told him. "But I have some science."

"I guess we can do that." Leonard said.

"How was your date?" Penny asked. Leonard gulped.

"What date?" he questioned.

"Bernadette told me you had a date when we were working yesterday." She said. "Was it the Priscilla girl you were texting?"

"Yeah." He said. "The date was cancelled."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Penny gave a concerned looked. "I'm sure she had a good reason…"

Leonard felt like rolling his eyes at the fact she assumed Priya was the one who cancelled the date. "I cancelled it."

"Why?" she asked.

"It was freaking me out." He said. "I couldn't sleep for nights beforehand. I couldn't even pick an outfit."

"You need confidence." She said and put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. It made Leonard feel very awkward. He also noticed Christy, from across the class, look at this. "What did the girl say when you told her?" Penny asked.

"She texted me to feel better." Leonard said. "I said I was sick."

"Oh." Penny said and took her hand off him. "Next date, ask me to help you, okay?"

"Why?" Leonard questioned.

"I've been on many dates." She said. A phone buzzed in Penny's pocket. She looked at the study class teacher who was asleep and then answered.

"Hello." She said. Leonard waited as Penny said answers like "Okay." And "Yep." Suddenly she looked sad. "Oh. Oh, that is okay. I will. Thank you." She then then goodbye and hung up. Leonard didn't care enough to question it.

"So what are you studying in science right now?" Leonard said.

"I didn't get the part." She said in a disappointed the tone. "You know, the one I auditioned for on the weekend."

Leonard didn't know how to react. "At least you tried." He shrugged. "Now back to science."

"They said my acting was good but I needed more experience." She continued. "How do I get experience if I can't get parts!"

Leonard sighed and answered logically. "That was a movie, Penny." He said "You should try smaller. Theatre maybe. Acting classes. YouTube even."

"I'm sorry I dragged you to Hollywood for no reason." She apologised.

"Let's get back to science." Leonard insisted. "What are you studying?"

"Velociraptors." She said.

"I didn't think that was a part of the curriculum…. Oh you mean velocity." He realised.

"Of course. I was joking." She pretended like she did not think her class was studying Velociraptors.

"Ok, then." He gave a small smile and kept any criticisms internal. He knew from many years of living with his mother that attacking intelligence was petty. She showed him her science textbook and on the page was formula for velocity. He began to explain what it meant and how it was different to speed.

#

Leonard was at his locker after the school day had finished. It was Friday so he was putting his books in a bag. He put the bag over his shoulder, locked the door and turned. When he turned he saw Penny run up to Kurt and hug him tightly. Leonard stared at them and saw she had an excited expression on her face and he gave a confused one. She seemed to explain something and the two than kissed passionately. Leonard shuddered and reactively turned the other way and walked in that direction.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He looked at the text.

 _On Sunday I want to go to the movies. Will you be better enough to go so it can be our date? – Priscilla_

Leonard thought about this and knew it'd be perfect. A movie would reduce the social interaction between the two, so it would be a perfect first date.

 _Yes. Text me the time and location and I will be there – Leonard_

"Hello, Hoftsplatter." Bernadette greeted him. She and Amy were standing in front of him. "Do you see how happy Penny is?"

"I noticed." Leonard told her "And it's pronounced Hofts…"

"Do you know why she is so happy?" she asked.

"Did Forever 21 stock a new nail polish colour?" He joked.

"It is because of how you helped her." Bernadette said. "She got an A- on her math test. She texted me as soon as she got the result."

"A-?" he questioned. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not surprised you're surprised" Amy said.

"I wonder why she told Kurt before me." He thought aloud.

"Is someone jealous?" Bernadette hinted.

"Of Penny?" he joked. "I'd never want to tell Kurt anything."

"Ha ha." Bernadette gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Hello ladies." Someone walked up to the three of them. "And Leonard." It was Howard. Raj was with him.

"Not you again." Bernadette rolled her eyes. She grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her away. "Let's go." She walked away from the three.

"You weren't the person I wanted to talk to just now." Howard said when they'd left.

"I thought I told you not to annoy Bernadette." Leonard said.

"Don't care. Christy had her test. She got a D." he shook her head. "Not my D, to clarify." Both Raj and Leonard did not laugh.

"Christy is not letting Howard touch her breasts anymore." Raj elaborated. "Apparently that arrangement wasn't helping her grades."

"So you're desperate for female attention." Leonard assumed. "Sucks to be you."

"Sucks to be me?" he questioned. "When was the last time you got female attention? Even your female study buddy is consummating her test result with her hunky boyfriend."

Leonard should've told them about his date. But Raj was standing right there and he was afraid he'd accidentally let out that his date was Priya.

"I even heard Shelbot Cuckoo got a date with a girl this weekend." Raj said. "The new girl with the glasses that was here before."

Leonard shook his head. "That is purely platonic."

"Better than any of us." Howard said.

"Good for Sheldon Cooper." Leonard shrugged. "I'm going home now. Bye." He left the two and walked out of the school. He began to text Penny.

 _Congrats on the test result – Leonard_

 _A- is amazing - Leonard_

 _Also, can we have a tutoring session tomorrow? I need some help with a date – Leonard_

 **Thank you for reading. Next chapter will have Leonard and Priya's date, Penny helping them and the platonic Shamy date mentioned in this chapter. It will be interesting to see how all these events will turn out.**

 **If you wish to leave feedback please review and please favourite or follow here or on tumblr(clintcooper) to get updates. Thank you all again.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	8. The Advice Adherence

Leonard took a deep breath before entering the movie theatre. He knew that Priya would be standing inside waiting for him to arrive. She would see him walk in and look at his hair, face and clothes and wonder from that first impression if the entire date would be worth it. His mind thought back to his tutoring session with Penny the day before and everything she advised.

 _Leonard arrived at Penny's house and knocked at the door. The door opened and he saw Penny's father._

" _Hello Leonard." He said. "How are you?"_

" _I'm fine." Leonard answered. He gestured into the house and Leonard walked in._

" _How is Penny doing?" he asked Leonard. "I heard her math test results were spectacular."_

" _The A- was very impressive." Leonard said. "But… I guess… to maintain this progress she has to continue to work. "_

" _Based off what I've seen she is very keen to work." He said. "Whenever you leave she always seems enthusiastic about doing more work."_

" _Really?"_

 _He nodded. "She seems very happy with your tutoring," he told him. "Who knows. Maybe when her and Kurt break you can have a 'go at her'. Do you get my drift?"_

 _Leonard gave a confused look. "Not really…"_

" _Slugger! Leonard is here." He ignored Leonard and called up to Penny._

" _Tell him he can come up!" she shouted back from upstairs._

" _You heard the girl." He said with a chuckle. "Good luck."_

 _Leonard still felt confused but decided it was better to ignore these eccentricities. He walked up to stairs and saw Penny's bedroom door was open. He walked over to the door-way._

" _Hey." Leonard greeted. He saw Penny sitting at her desk, scrolling through her phone._

" _Hello." She turned to him and said with a smile. Leonard walked into the room and she got up and closed the door._

" _Congrats on the A-." he complimented._

" _Thanks." She said. "I wanted to tell you in person and I should've told Bernadette that. I thought it'd a bright note to start our tutoring sesh."_

" _Oh, that is okay." Leonard said._

 _Penny looked at Leonard thoughtfully. "From your texts, I know today's tutoring isn't all about maths and science."_

 _Leonard sighed. "That girl re-scheduled the date for Sunday. We're going to the movies."_

" _What are you seeing?" she questioned._

 _He shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is I'm meeting her at the cinemas at 6."_

 _Penny thought for a second. "That might mean she didn't want choice of movie to stop you from going out with her." She evaluated. "This girl must like you. When I first dated Kurt I purposely didn't choose a particular movie as well. I didn't care what it was, as long as he was there."_

" _I think she does like me." He said. "She texts me often although it has felt awkward since we began planning dates…"_

" _What does this Priscilla girl look like?" she asked curiously._

" _Don't tell Rajesh this but her name is Priya." He said. "The waitress from when I worked at the café."_

 _Penny looked a little surprised. "She is pretty! Good for you!"_

" _Her being 'pretty' doesn't help me, Penny." Leonard said. "She could look like Jabba the Hutt and I'd still be nervous." Penny gave a confused look. "He is a character in Star Wars, which I am just now realising you haven't actually seen…"_

" _I'll tell you anything you want to know." she interrupted. "Where should we start? How about what you do when you greet her…"_

He realised he was just standing outside the theatre, thinking, as others walked past him. Leonard took another deep breath and walked inside the theatre. He saw Priya waiting in the theatre lobby and was staring at her phone. He walked up to her.

"Hey." He greeted. She looked up at him.

"Hello Leonard." She said and put her phone away.

"Hey." He said again. His mind wondered back to the advice he got.

" _What should I do when I greet her?" he asked Penny._

" _Definitely tell her how pretty she is." She suggested. "And then point out one particular thing you like."_

" _Oh! I know how this works!" Leonard said. "She probably will spend a lot of time getting ready and having me compliment something in particular will make her feel like it was worth all that time. It will be a similar accomplished reaction to when a boss compliments their employee."_

" _You're overthinking things." Penny reminded. "She'll just be happy."_

" _Oh." Leonard noted in his minded. "Sorry. My mother was a psychologist. I get this over-analysis thing from her."_

 _Penny laughed. "I understand."_

"You look pretty. I like your, umm…" Leonard looked at her outfit and it was her waitressing uniform. It was clear she'd come here straight from her job. He looked at her hair and noticed that it looked shiny. "Hair. Yes, I like your hair."

She smiled and a small amount of red appeared on her cheeks. "Thank you Leonard." She said. Leonard smiled. What Penny said was good advice. "I quite like what you're wearing." She also commented.

Leonard smiled once again. "I picked it myself." He lied.

" _What do I wear?" Leonard questioned. "Last time I couldn't decide and that was the final stress that lead me to cancelling."_

 _Penny thought for a second. "Definitely not what you wear when I see you."_

" _What? Why? What is wrong with…"_

" _I don't even understand what you wear sometimes." She said. "Over-sized hoodies and t-shirts with monsters on them." She gestured to the shirt Leonard was currently wearing_

 _Leonard rolled his eyes and looked down at his shirt. "Those are narwhals. Those aren't monsters"_

 _Penny shook her head. "Kurt always looks nice when he wears a t-shirt that shows of his muscles."_

" _T-shirt? It'll be too cold."_

" _Hold on a second." Penny said. She walked out of the room for a few seconds and returned with a box._

" _What is this?" he asked._

" _Some of brother's clothes from when he was a tween." She said. "I think they'd fit you."_

" _Is this some kind of joke?" Leonard asked rhetorically._

 _Penny had picked out a pair of jeans, a plain black t-shirt and a small black jacket. "This matches perfectly." She handed them to him. "Try them on."_

" _Not when you're in the room."_

" _Are you embarrassed?" Penny giggled playfully._

" _Of course not. There is nothing to see." He said. "Well, not literally nothing, but nothing that you wouldn't find anatomically correct on most males."_

 _Penny gave a confused look. "Huh."_

" _Please let me change by myself."_

" _Okay, Leonard." Penny gave another laugh. She left the room and only returned when Leonard said he was finished. He looked at her, waiting for a verdict. She nodded._

" _A little too big, but it'll do." She judged._

Penny's advice about the outfit was worth it as Leonard noticed Priya admiring him. The two had walked over to the ticket line.

"What movie are we watching?" Leonard asked.

"I think we should see La La Land." She said.

Leonard nodded. "I heard that one was good." He commented.

The two stood waiting and Leonard felt it going to awkward silence very quickly.

" _You can change back into your other clothes now." She said after she had evaluated the outfit._

" _I'm not getting undressed again." he shook his head. "Let's move on. What should I say when we encounter an awkward moment?"_

" _Just ask how she is. Or pick her work or her school if you think you need more… umm…. how would I say this…" Penny told him._

" _Something more specific?" Leonard suggested._

" _Yes."_

" _Why?"_

" _That is just how people talk Leonard." Penny said like it was obvious._

" _In our family we usually don't bother. Although my father has been doing it more often lately…"_

"How are you?" Leonard asked. "Work? School? Family?"

"My parents are howling at me about getting an A in everything." Priya explained. "I had to pretend I had an extra-long shift to come out here today."

Leonard nodded. "My mother is the same. If I get lower than an A, it is an obvious example of nature vs. nurture."

"Really?" Priya questioned.

"I'm not joking." He said.

"My parents just know I want to be a lawyer and a good lawyer." Priya said. "And they think I might as well not bother if I can't get into a good college."

"At least your parents think you can make it into a good college." Leonard told her.

"Is this your mother again?" she questioned. "You seem very negative about her. But still bring her up often. I've noticed that since I met you."

"She says I want to crawl back into her womb." He said. "Which is some metaphor for something."

"Don't worry Leonard." Priya said. "I don't care what your mother thinks."

Leonard couldn't but smile at this. He remembered the girls in New Jersey reading quotes from his mother's books and being disgusted. He felt a small amount of happiness that was now over.

#

The movie finished and Leonard walked out of the theatre with an empty bucket of popcorn in one hand and Priya's hand in the other. Leonard tried to remember how that happened. He and Priya kept discussing their annoying parents right up until the movie started. And somehow during the movie their hands touched and then it felt like they had to hold hands. It didn't feel as odd as Leonard would've thought before this but he was worried his hands were coming across as sweaty.

"What did you think of the movie?" Priya asked. "I liked it."

"Oh, I thought it was amazing." He said. "I think Penny would like it."

"Penny?" she questioned.

"You know, the girl I'm tutoring?" Leonard clarified.

Priya gave a suspicious look. "I know. She is another woman you always talk about."

"Well the tutoring is a major part of my life." He said. "Which says more about my life then about the tutoring."

"I don't think I want to talk about Penny anymore." Priya said.

"Okay." Leonard nodded. "I just thought of her because the main character in the movie was an aspiring actress and so is Penny. It might inspire her in some way. Although, don't tell Penny I told you that about her…"

"When would I be talking to Penny, Leonard?" she said harshly and let go of Leonard's hand. He gulped and regretted bringing Penny up. He thought of some more advice Penny gave him.

" _Thank you for the advice Penny." Leonard said. "I'm not sure the date will go well but a 2% chance of succeeding by adhering to your advice is better than 1%."_

" _I wouldn't expect too much out of this Leonard." She advised._

" _Why?" Leonard queried confused._

" _Remember when you taught me about Quadratics and it took me a few problems to get it correct?" she asked._

" _Of course."_

" _Well, it might be the same with dating." She justified. "Don't be disheartened if it doesn't go well the first time. If something does go wrong just remember that."_

 _Leonard thought for a second. "I guess that makes sense." He said. "Certainly more logical sense than anything my mother has ever published." He joked and Penny laughed._

"I'm sorry Priya." Leonard apologised. "Let's talk about something else."

#

"Sheldon, it was genius to have our social outing at a cinema." Amy complimented as the two walked out a theatre.

"I know." Sheldon gave a smile. "What would be a better way to spend time together then to sit down and not talk for two hours."

"I'm glad we did this." Amy nodded. "I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in silence with you."

"Well, we followed all the rules for a platonic outing." Sheldon said. "I didn't pay for your ticket, we both got separate popcorns and drinks and I won't take you home. Goodbye Amy Farrah Fowler."

Amy smiled. "Thank you Sheldon." She said. "Wait… is that Leonard Hoftslader?" The two saw Leonard walk out of a theatre with Priya who had an annoyed expression on her face.

"Is it socially appropriate to greet them or ignore them?" Sheldon asked. "I'm hoping it is the latter."

"It depends if they see us too." Amy said. "Maybe if we walked away quickly…"

The expression of Priya's didn't change which to Leonard meant she hadn't gotten over him mentioning Penny. He looked away from her and saw Sheldon and Amy walking nearby. An easy escape from this situation would be having someone else talk to Priya and get her mind off it. Leonard didn't want to talk to Sheldon but it seemed better than walking awkwardly with Priya.

"I know that guy." Leonard told Priya. "Sheldon Cooper."

"Where do you know him?" Priya asked.

"He was my partner for a science project." He explained. "He also goes to the café so I'm surprised you don't recognise him."

"I get many customers." Priya justified. "I don't remember all of them."

Leonard waved at Sheldon whose eyes widened in shock.

"Can we still escape?" he heard Sheldon ask Amy.

"I'm afraid it is too late." Amy shook her head in disappointment. Leonard and Priya walked up to the two of them.

"Good evening." Amy added politely.

"Yes." Sheldon nodded.

"Hello." Leonard said. "This is Priya." He introduced.

"Nice to meet you." She said to the two of them.

"I remember you. You work at the Mall Café." Sheldon said. "Last time I went you bought out my mother's and my sister's burger before me."

Priya gulped. "I only have two hands."

"Not my problem." Sheldon said.

"What are you two doing here?" Leonard interrupted.

"We are here on a platonic social outing." Amy explained. "We spent some time before the movie talking about how to easily implement teacher evaluations into the school system."

"Really?" Priya questioned. "That sounds interesting."

"We are thinking of writing up a proposal to give to the school board." Sheldon said. "Not that they'd know a good idea from a bad one."

Leonard couldn't help but give a small laugh at Sheldon's honesty.

A ringtone began to play from Amy's pockets and she pulled out an old brick phone. She looked at who was calling and opened her eyes in worry.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "I have to leave!"

"What is the problem?" Sheldon questioned.

"It is my mother." She gave a concerned expression. "To come out tonight I may have climbed out my window since I was grounded after going to that party. Her calling may mean she has found out."

"I'll see you soon, Amy." Sheldon said. "I should be leaving too. Goodbye Leonard Hofstadter and Priya."

"Goodbye." The two said back and Sheldon and Amy walked off in different directions.

"That was odd." Priya commented. Leonard looked at Priya to try and judge her current emotion. It had seemed she had forgotten about his Penny comments.

Priya looked at her phone and saw the time. "I should go too." She said. "My parents might get suspicious if I'm out too long."

"Okay." Leonard said. "Are we going to hang out another time or…"

Priya nodded. "Yes." She said. Leonard couldn't help but smile. "I'll text you and we can organise something."

Leonard walked Priya to her car and when they got there she opened a door and seemed to wait for something.

"Goodbye then." Leonard said.

"It is the end of the date, Leonard." She said.

Leonard looked at her curiously. "Do you want me to…" he was about to add something sarcastic but stopped himself. "What?" he asked instead.

Before Leonard could do anything Priya bought her face forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. Leonard felt surprised but didn't pull away. A few seconds after she ended the kiss.

"Goodbye Leonard." She said. She got in the car and drove away. Leonard watched motionless, still shocked at the kiss. Was that really the ending of his first official date? He didn't really know how to evaluate if it were a success or failure.

#

When Leonard got home he took off his jacket and slumped into one of the couches in the living room. He closed his eyes for a second to calm himself. Did he even want a second date after all that stress?

The next thing Leonard remembered was someone poking him the shoulder and saying. "Are you awake?" He opened his eyes and realised he'd fallen asleep. He saw his father trying to wake him and his mother rolling her eyes behind him.

"Have you been sleeping in the living room all night?" his mother asked.

"All night, long?" Leonard asked. "What time is it?"

Michael appeared out of nowhere and opened up a nearby curtain. Bright light pierced through and Leonard blocked his eyes from it. Michael was wearing a sports jersey and looked very awake. "It is morning." He laughed.

"You need to get ready for school." His father said.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Michael asked Leonard.

Leonard looked down and saw he was still wearing his clothes from the night before. "I think it is fairly obvious if you use your eyes." He said sarcastically.

Michael laughed. "If that is what you think is cool, then you're living five years in the past."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for school."

After taking a shower, changing his clothes and then packing his books into his school bag he walked out into the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast. He grabbed a piece of bread and began to eat it quickly.

"It must've been a fun date if you were tired afterwards." His father was also in the kitchen, drinking some coffee.

"I think it was okay." Leonard didn't want to make his expectations too high.

"I'm proud that you did this." he added.

"You're proud?"

"Well I wanted you to be more social, and now you are." he explained. "This isn't the Leonard who started at a new school three weeks ago."

Leonard thought back to something Penny had said during that last tutoring session

" _See you next tutoring session." She said as he was about to leave. "And try not to be too jokey on the date, okay?"_

" _Why?" Leonard asked._

" _Well, she might think you're being rude." She explained. "We're friends so I know when you're being sarcastic but she probably won't."_

" _We're friends?" Leonard asked with confusion._

" _Yes." She nodded._

" _I don't have any platonic friends." Leonard added. "You're my tutoring student."_

" _Are you sure, Leonard?" she questioned. "We talk about other things. You asked me for advice when you needed help with dating. I asked your help when I wanted to go to my audition. I'm pretty sure we're friends."_

" _Penny…"_

" _And you have other friends." She said. "I noticed you sitting with Christy's breast toucher and his friend at lunch time."_

 _Leonard gave a small smile. "Goodbye Penny. I'll talk to you later." And Leonard left before Penny could add more evidence to her statement._

"I am the same as before." He told his father. "I haven't made new friends. I don't enjoy talking to people yet. I still prefer being on my own…"

"You're in denial." His father gave a Leonard a sly smile.

"Alfred, stop pampering our impressionable child." Beverly walked in with an angry expression on her face. "I have to leave for work, not that work means anything to you."

"I have a job!" his father argued.

"My job is more important than this!" she gestured Leonard and then to Alfred.

Leonard did not understand what this argument was about so he walked out of kitchen quickly before getting in the crossfire.

#

Leonard opened his locker door and retrieved his books for his first lessons.

"So how was it?" he heard Penny ask from behind him. He turned and saw her with a curious look. Leonard look down the halls and noticed none of her cool friends nearby.

"It was fine." Leonard explained. "She said she would text me about a second date. She even kissed me a little…"

"Really?"

"Yes. And she was impressed with your outfit choice." He said.

"Oh." Penny nodded. "Well… good for you."

Leonard nodded. "Thank you for all your help. Whether or not this date leads to more, it certainly did help me learn more about dating AND my father is proud of me for…."

From the corner of Leonard's eye he saw Kurt, Michael and some of the football team now walking down the hallway.

"I'll see you later." Penny interrupted and she walked quickly away towards them. Leonard shrugged this off and walked to class.

 **Thank you for reading. There are some split perspectives in this chapter which I thought would be interesting to write. Seeing La La Land was set up to get Leonard talking about Penny on their first date and cause some issues. Next chapter will have more dating challenges for Leonard and he'll have to confront the fact that he is more social than he intended.**

 **If you wish to keep up to date, please favourite and follow here or follow me on tumblr(clintcooper). If you wish to leave feedback, please review. Thank you again.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	9. The Contacts Irritation

Leonard was sitting down in a chair at the local optometry office, waiting for the optometrist to analyse some test results on a nearby computer. Eventually she turned towards Leonard.

"It seems your eye-sight has not worsened based on the report I got from your New Jersey optometrist." She told him. "Which is good, of course, but I am more concerned than he was about someone with eyesight this bad at your age."

"My parents are both vision impaired." Leonard explained. "I have inherited both their problems. Of course my siblings didn't..."

"I thought so." She nodded.

"I can still see perfectly fine with my glasses!" he clarified.

"What about the very corners of your eyes?" she questioned him. "Like when you look sharply to the left or right?"

Leonard gulped. She had correctly predicted a problem he'd been having. Two days before when driving he'd nearly run over a stray cat because the sides of his glasses frames blocked it out when he checked to the right. "I guess… umm… I sometimes miss things because my glasses are in the way."

"I suspected as much." She nodded knowingly. "You should wear glasses with slimmer frames or maybe even get some contacts."

"Are you sure that is really necessary?" Leonard asked. "I've been wearing the same style of glasses for my entire life."

"The frames on your current pair are too big. I highly recommend it." She said. "But if you need time to think it over I can have you come back in another time."

Leonard nodded. "I would appreciate that."

He was almost certain that he wouldn't change his glasses. Why wouldn't he change them? This style of glasses had made him very comfortable since he was diagnosed with eye problems as a child. But then he thought of the cat that was an inch away from being dead because of it. What if that was a human the next time? He had a lot to consider.

#

Leonard and Priya were on their second date. Leonard was not as nervous as last time and but still got some advice from Penny before going. He was wearing another outfit picked by her from her brother's old clothing. Leonard and Priya were sitting across from each other at a restaurant. It was outside of Pasadena so no one they knew, like Priya's family, would accidentally catch them. During an awkward silence Leonard's mind began to wonder about what the optometrist said earlier that day.

"Is something on your mind Leonard?" Priya asked.

"It is just something my optometrist said." He told her. "I just have to make a decision. It seems hard but… it is really quite simple."

"Maybe I can help." She suggested. "What did they have to say?"

"Well, she recommended I change my glasses to have a slimmer frame or even get contacts as I sometime struggle to see when I look far to the right and left." He explained.

"And what do you think so far?"

"I've been considering a slimmer frame but they tend to break easily, from my experience with… uh…. clumsiness." He omitted that his experiences were with bullies.

"Well I think you'd look cute with contacts." Priya said.

"Did you recently get hit in the head…" he began to say but then stopped his sarcasm. "I mean… are you sure?"

"Yeah." She said. She reached over the table to him and carefully took his glasses off. Priya and the restaurant blurred together like a broken Picasso painting. "Yes, you do look nice." She clarified. Leonard felt his bad vision start giving him a headache. He began reaching out for his glasses but was grabbing the air instead. Priya gave a small laugh and put them back on him. The blurriness disappeared and Priya looked like her pretty self once again.

"You think I should get contacts?" he questioned.

She nodded. "Who knows. Maybe we'll get to do more than kissing on our third date if you get contacts."

Leonard's eyes opened wide in shock. "Huh?" She winked at him as some sort of answer.

Leonard wasn't stupid. He knew what she was implying. But it was hard to believe that she actually meant it.

"Just get contacts." She smiled. "At least try it. For me."

#

Michael was eating a late dinner when Leonard arrived home from his date. Leonard had walked into the kitchen where Michael was eating to get a drink of water before showering and going to sleep.

"How was it?" he heard Michael ask.

"What do you want?" Leonard rolled his eyes. It was late and he did not want any mocking from him.

"I'm just asking how your date was?" he justified. "I myself had a great date. I actually got lucky. Twice!"

Leonard grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Michael boasting disguised as helpfulness did make Leonard think. "You're quite good with the girls, correct?"

"That is the quite the understatement, bro." he said.

"Well… I don't know if I should get contacts." Leonard said. "Priya said I'd look good in them. But I don't know if she is just trying to please me on a date or not."

"If it'll get you laid then do it." Michael suggested.

"Is that all the advice you have?" Leonard questioned. "I don't want to just get laid. I know your also quite popular and might know if I'd look good in contacts."

"I must admit I don't often think of how attractive your face might be." He said. "But I do know that getting glasses won't help your shortness or your nerdiness."

Leonard sighed. "Why did I even bother asking you?"

"But your glasses do hide a lot of your facial features." He said. "I think the contacts may work."

Leonard looked at him suspiciously. "Are you trying to trick me?"

He shook his head. "Why would I try to bring you down even more. You can't get any lower than rock bottom…"

Leonard rolled his eyes once again and walked away from the conversation. So much for the two trying to get along.

#

After discussing it with Priya and Michael he'd decided that he would give contacts a try. He went back to the optometrist and had some made along with a pair of glasses with a slimmer frame, just in case the contacts did not work out. His next date with Priya was the day after he had gotten the contacts so it only gave him an entire school day to get used to them. Before leaving for school he put them in his eyes. They seemed comfortable enough at that moment.

Before school began Leonard was at his locker to get his books for the day. He turned and saw Kurt, Penny and a group of football players. He sped up his book grabbing but it wasn't quick enough. The group had made it to were Leonard was standing. He had no choice but to greet them.

"Hey Kurt and the rest." Leonard greeted with little enthusiasm

"Hello Leonard." Penny greeted. "Kurt, can you go up ahead. I'd like to discuss our tutoring for a minute."

"Of course, Penny." Kurt said. Kurt kissed Penny goodbye, which made Leonard cringe, and everyone but Penny left.

"What would you like to discuss?" Leonard asked. "I believe you've been making good progress on your understanding of Newton's laws…"

"Why did you get contact lenses?" she asked.

"The optometrist told me to." He said.

"So the optirst made you get them?" she queried.

"Well she said it as an option." He explained. "Priya was the one who said I'd look good in them."

"She might have good taste." She said thoughtfully.

"Do you think they look good?"

"Of course." She said. "But I guess I don't see much difference from when you had glasses."

"So you thought I looked good before I had contacts…"

"I mean, I didn't care what you looked like." She suddenly seemed frantic about her statement. "You're my tutor and my friend. It doesn't matter."

"Tutor." Leonard corrected. "You're friends are not me but Kurt and your cheerleading friends."

Penny rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you sometimes!" she exclaimed. "You clearly don't like me and don't want to be friends with me at all!"

"That is not the case and you know it…"

"Until you admit that we're friends I will no longer give you advice about relationships!" she began to get loud. She then realised and looked around to see if anyone was watching. She seemed relieved when only two unpopular students were nearby and they didn't seem to be paying attention.

Leonard gulped. He had been meaning to ask Penny for advice about their third date. But he felt like he needed to stand his ground.

"I'm sorry Penny if I have offended you." He said. "But I now have to go to class." He walked away quickly before Penny could say anything else.

Leonard then felt an itch around his eyes. He scratched it quickly before ignoring it ever existed.

#

Leonard sat at the table he always sat at in the cafeteria and began to eat his lunch. He saw Howard and Raj walked in with their lunches and they seemed to be looking around for Leonard. But they couldn't find him. Leonard realised they were probably looking out for his signature glasses and now he was just wearing contacts. It took seem several minutes to realise the lonely kid with no glasses was Leonard and not someone else.

"Did Kurt break your glasses again?" Howard asked as he sat at the table.

Leonard's eyes began to itch again. The itch that happened after talking to Penny was not the last. Ever since the itching had been getting worse. He tried to ignore it.

"I got contact lenses." He explained.

"Why?" Raj queried.

Leonard was careful not to mention Priya. "Optometrist said so…. Gosh why does this itch so much?!"

He couldn't stand it anymore. He did not care if it was rude to do it in front of Howard and Raj and began to itch it vigorously. Howard and Raj gave each other an awkward glance as they weren't sure what to do.

"Whilst Leonard tries to masturbate using his eyes… for some reason…" Howard said with concern. "Raj has discovered his sister is dating someone from this school."

Leonard was so surprised at this statement that he nearly knocked his eye out mid-itch. "Really?" he faked ignorance.

"I saw her phone." Raj explained. "She was telling one of her friends that she might… you know…"

"She is going to do the dance with no pants with some Pasadena High School dude." Howard intervened.  
"Yes." Raj nodded. "The only catch is she is expecting some sort of change appearance change."

"Why?" Leonard said mid-itch.

"It is some sort of test to see if he trusts her or something… Why does that even matter?" Howard said. "You knew her at the café. Did she say anything?"

"She said not to tell Howard Wolowitz about her love life." He said with sarcasm. "And we only worked together for a day."

"We're just asking…"

Leonard stood up. "I can't stand this stupid itching anymore!" And rushed off to the bathroom to take the lenses out as quickly as he could.

#

Leonard took his contacts out and was now wearing the glasses with the slimmer frame he'd bought with just in case. He looked like his normal self except his eyes were a bit red from all that itching. There were some residual itches after he took the contacts out but they'd mostly died down.

"Leonard." Bernadette walked up to him and sounded angry. "How could you say something like that to Penny?!"

"What do you mean?" Leonard asked in confusion.

"She told me not to say anything to you but she is upset that you said you weren't her friend!" she said with a harsh tone. "She thinks you won't be friends with her because she is not as smart as you."

"That is not the reason." Leonard said.

"Then why don't you like her?"

"I do like her…"

"Then why would you say you weren't her friend?" Bernadette questioned.

Leonard took a deep breath before answering. "She has her world, I have mine. They shouldn't mix."

"Penny and I have been mixing these supposed worlds for a while and they've mixed well!" Bernadette rebutted.

"She doesn't consider you for tutoring because she thinks you disapproving of Kurt would stop you." Leonard began. "How is that a successful mixing of both world?"

"We aren't talking about me…"

"But you bought yourself up." Leonard said with a sly smile.

"I don't care!" Bernadette shouted. "You've been a constant pain since you've come here! You snuck Howard into Penny's party so he could kiss me and then failed at stopping him from annoying me. I thought you helping Penny would make me like you but now you did this!"

"I'll apologise the next time Penny and I speak." Leonard assured. "Please stop shouting. People are staring." This was true as several students walking past noticed this commotion.

"Okay, Leonard." She said without any hint of calmness.

At that moment Amy and Sheldon walked up to the two of them. Amy seemed to be laughing.

"That was a very funny joke, Sheldon." Amy smiled.

"They say Quantum Mechanics can tickle any metaphorical funny bone." Sheldon also smiled.

"Hello Bernadette." Amy said. "I'm sorry I had to leave you at lunch. Sheldon and I have booked a school board meeting to discuss teacher assessment options for tomorrow and we were preparing our presentation."

Leonard gave a sly smile. "Worst euphemism for sex I've ever heard." He joked.

Sheldon shook his head in disappointment. "It always seizes to amaze me how many times the average teenage mind thinks of sex." He said. He then looked at Leonard with confusion "Weren't you not wearing glasses before? I remember from home class."

"I was wearing contact lenses." He explained. "But they were itching so I took them out."

Sheldon thought for a second. "There are several reasons why that might be occurring." He told Leonard. "The most likely is the contact lenses has some sort of dirt or dust on them."

"They were new, Sheldon."

"My optometrist did not allow me to get contacts due to an allergy." Amy said. "Maybe you are the same."

"Amy is very correct which is amazing for a Pasadena High School student." Sheldon agreed. "I would get that checked with your optometrist soon. Hopefully you don't need contacts for something important."

Leonard thought about what Howard said about the next date, that was happening that night. A test to see if she would trust him.

"Of course I don't." Leonard lied. "I don't need those lenses at all…"

#

Leonard sat in the car outside the hotel Priya had requested they eat at and maybe do 'more than just kiss' at. He was debating what to do. He could explain to Priya that the contact lenses were irritating him but she might think he was lying. And if he walked in there proudly wearing glasses it might be seen as an insult to her taste. If he did wear them then Priya would definitely get annoyed by Leonard constantly itching his face. And that would not be attractive to someone wanting an intimate experience like sex. He took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. The world suddenly became a giant blur. He could still make out what things were but they were meshed with everything around them. This would give him headache.

"Why am I overthinking this?" he asked himself with annoyance.

He suddenly wished he could ask Penny for some advice. He had her phone number in his mobile but she seemed very clear about not helping him. He decided it was just time to get out of the car. He put his slimmer framed glasses in his jacket pocket and ultimately decided to try and make it through the blur.

He stepped out the car and attempted to walk into the hotel. After nearly being run over and hitting a pole accidentally he managed to get inside. He walked up to a person behind the front desk.

"Hello I'm here for Priya Koothrappali."

"Her table is over there." The person's blurry arm seemed to move.

"I'm kinda vision impaired." He said. "Can you help me get there?" he asked.

The person walked very closely to Leonard as he walked him over to Priya. Leonard managed successfully except for knocking over a chair.

"If you need any more help, don't hesitate to ask." The worker insisted and then walked away.

"He is nice." Leonard smiled.

"That was a female." Priya said.

Leonard gulped. Her voice sounded like a male. "How are you?" Leonard changed the subject.

"I'm fine." Priya said. "Do you have your contacts in?"

"I do." Leonard fibbed. "Do I look nice?"

"You look even sexier than before." She sounded happy. At least this was worth something.

Leonard eventually got used to talking to a blurry mess all dinner long. It was giving him a headache but it wasn't bad enough to make him sick. Throughout the dinner Leonard sometimes missed the food and even the plate with the fork and almost knocked over his beverage. Priya began to notice.

"Are you okay?" she questioned.

"These contacts are still getting used to." Leonard lied. "Apparently it takes some time to get used to them."

Priya probably gave him a suspicious look, not that he could tell. "I've never heard that before."

"I hadn't either." Leonard gave a fake smile.

#

Priya had booked a room. It was upstairs and thankfully they took the lifts and not the stairs. Priya had helped him get to the room and sat him on the bed.

"I'll be right back." She said. Leonard waited and didn't bother to look around the room. It would just make him feel dizzy. Priya's voice suddenly appeared.

"How do I look?" she questioned.

"Where are you?" Leonard asked.

"I'm over here!" Priya said. Leonard tried to hear for where that was but got nothing. "To your left!"

Leonard turned left and saw her, or what he thought was her. It was hard to tell.

"You look great." He assumed.

"I got this underwear for this occasion." He told him. "Come over here and maybe we can get you down to yours."

Leonard gulped. Of course he wanted this, he was a teenage male. But he didn't even know if he could do this without vision.

"Okay." He stood up and began to walk over to her. Suddenly his foot got caught in something and went tumbling to floor. He landed on his arm. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh!" Priya said loudly.

"My arm really hurts." He said in pain

"Okay! What is wrong?"

"I don't know! I can't see it!" Leonard admitted.

He heard footsteps run up to him and gently pick his arm up. "It looks broken or something." Priya evaluated. "I'll drive you to hospital but I need to get dressed again. Just be patient okay?" she said.

"Hurry!" Leonard pleaded. The pain in his arm kept getting worse. He instantly regretted making the decision of not wearing glasses.

#

Leonard sat in a hospital room in Pasadena. He'd put on his glasses again and everything looked as it should.

"We are finished here." The Doctor told him. ""I'll make some appointments with a GP for you so they can check if you're recovering. You only sprained your arm so as long as you keep a cast on, you'll recover in 3 to 4 weeks."

"It felt a lot worse than a sprain." He thought aloud.

"Do you want it to be worse than a sprain?" the doctor joked. Leonard laughed.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" Leonard said with sarcasm.

Leonard left the doctor's room and saw Priya waiting in the lobby. He looked down in embarrassment.

"The hospital called your parents. They are coming to sign you out." Priya explained. "But can you please explain why you tripped over a very large table leg which was in plain sight?"

Leonard sighed. "Well… uh… I lied. I didn't have my contacts in. I didn't want to disappoint you."

"Why would that disappoint me?"

"You seemed so convinced they'd make me look better. I felt like I would be offending you otherwise." Leonard explained.

"Did you at least try contacts?"

"Of course!" Leonard defended. "But they itched like crazy! I couldn't wear them ever again!"

"I think you'd look good in them, but you still look fine in glasses." Priya said. She then laughed.

"What is so funny?" Leonard asked.

"This date was so embarrassing." Priya said. "I could tell something was up when you called the girl with heavy lipstick a male."

"I'm sorry, Priya." Leonard apologised.

"Don't worry." Priya said. "In time this will be a very funny story to tell whether were still dating or not."

"Are we still dating?" Leonard asked.

Priya nodded. "Yes. But I expect less stumbling about on our next date."

Leonard couldn't help but laugh. "That should be easy. I'll probably just wear the glasses with the slimmer frame from now on."

Priya looked at her phone. "I need to go. My parents will be expecting me home soon. I said I had a late shift but I don't want to overdo it."

"Of course." Leonard understood. "Goodbye." The two kissed, quite naturally in comparison to their first kiss after the movies, and she left.

Leonard knew what he had to do if Priya expected the next date to be better. He got out his phone and dialled.

"Hello." He heard Penny's familiar voice from the other end. "I wasn't expecting you to call me after today…"

"I'm sorry Penny." He apologised. "For everything I said earlier."

"Are you apologising to a 'friend' or a 'student'." She asked rhetorically.

"A friend." He said. "I finally admit it. You are my friend and I trust you."

"Did you just have a date that sucked without my advice?" Penny guessed at why Leonard had changed his mind.

"Yep." Leonard. "I really needed your advice for this one. I ended up doing something so stupid. I always thought I was stronger than this now but I kept over-thinking and I ended up acting childish."

"Are you okay?" Penny asked with concern.

"It all ended up fine in the end." Leonard gave a small laugh. "In hindsight it is kinda hilarious."

"You have to tell me everything." Penny sounded happy to be talking to him.

"Alright." Leonard said. "Earlier today at school my contacts started itching…"

 **So Leonard admits his friendship to Penny and him and Priya have an interesting date. I wanted one date which showed Leonard needed some of Penny's help so I made it a disaster. That their friendship was not completely one sided. I hope that came across. The contacts plot is inspired by the episode were Leonard gets contacts in the show for Priya.**

 **The next chapter should be more development of the Priya/Leonard/Penny dynamic and I hope to add more with the other characters especially Shamy. The teacher assessment meeting mentioned here probably will come into play in the next chapters.**

 **Thank you all for reading. If you wish to get updates, please favourite and follow here or on tumblr(clintcooper). If you wish to leave feedback, please review. I do enjoy reading your commentary on the events of this story. Thank you all again.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	10. The Rejection Reaction

Sheldon walked hastily out of the classroom being used for the school board meeting. He had a very stern facial expression and his fists were clenched tightly at his side. A few seconds later Amy walked out of the room to follow Sheldon. She ran up to him.

"Sheldon!" she tried to get his attention.

"How could they?" he exclaimed. He stopped walking and turned to face her. "That was the best proposal those imbeciles have seen in their lives!"

"They might still be able to hear you…"

"They said it wasn't financially feasible even though we gave a perfect run-down of how to limit costs!" he began to get louder.

"Calm down." Amy tried to console him. "They just disagree with you, Sheldon."

"It is clear they just don't like me and wouldn't give me the satisfaction of implementing any useful change at this school!" Sheldon was in complete fury at this point. "Ever since I stepped foot in this school the entire system has been against me! I will not have them control me!"

"Please, Sheldon." Amy rested her hand light on his arm to comfort him. "You are just angry!"

Sheldon quickly flinched and retracted his arm. "Oh I see." He said. "You are conspiring with them!"

Amy's eyes opened in surprise and she shook her head. "No! I side with you! I'm just trying to help…"

"Goodbye, Amy Farrah Fowler!" he almost shouted. "It was nice thinking there was someone here with brains!"

He turned away from her and quickly ran away from Amy. Amy looked at her friend in concern. She did not like what this rejection had done to his mind.

#

"Cool cast dude." Raj looked at Leonard's arm as he sat down. "Can I sign it?"

Leonard shook his head. "No." His sprain wasn't severe so the cast allowed him to move his arm and hand easily which allowed him to still accomplish a small amount of writing and driving. The pain from when it had occurred was all gone.

Leonard sat at the small table in the cafeteria once again and Howard and Raj had just sat across from him. Leonard saw Penny across the room at the large table with Kurt having his arms around her. It wasn't that he was trying to look at her. It just seemed he always noticed her in a room.

"What happened?" Howard asked.

"I tripped over a table leg because I couldn't see it without my glasses" Leonard explained. He decided to emit the part about Priya in underwear.

"Did you also get new glasses?" Howard questioned.

Leonard nodded. "Slimmer frame. It felt odd at first but I actually feel good with the choice now…"

Suddenly Amy Farrah Fowler sat down in the available seat next to Leonard. All three of them stared at her. This was the first time they'd seen her without Bernadette or Sheldon nearby.

"I see someone has succumbed to the urges for some Howard." Howard raised his eyebrows seductively. Raj hit Howard in the arm at the inappropriateness. Amy observed this.

"Don't worry Rajesh." She said. "Bernadette told me about Howard's sexist nature. He either has mother or father issues. Or both."

Howard suddenly gulped and looked down.

"I apologise Howard." She said. "I see you've yet to admit the actual reasons for your constant attempts at womanising."

"Amy…" Leonard stepped in before she said anything else. "Why have you sat with us?"

"I'm looking for Sheldon." She said. "I have not seen him all day. I texted, tweeted, messaged, called, emailed and facetimed but he didn't respond."

"He might be sick." Leonard suggested.

Amy shook her head. "That can't be right with his stringent hygiene routine."

"You could always go to his house after school." Leonard suggested.

"I don't know his address." She said. "And my mother has currently grounded me. I can't go anywhere but school or home. I used to sneak out but she put bars on my windows."

"I know where he lives." Leonard said. "He lives next door to Penny."

"You go to that house for tutoring, correct?" she questioned. Leonard nodded 'yes'. "When you go there next can you please see if he is okay?"

"I usually just go there just for tutoring…"

"Please." She begged. "The last time I saw him he was in a bad mood and became angry at me. I didn't cause it but I didn't make it better. Please!"

Leonard saw desperation in Amy's eyes. She seemed more concerned than expected for someone who she was just friends with.

"I will stop by his home before tutoring." He said.

Amy wrote down a number on a stray piece of paper and gave it to Leonard. "If he doesn't want to talk to me please tell me what happened. That is my phone number. My mother is stupid about technology so I manage get it by her."

Leonard nodded. "I will."

"Thank you." She said. She stood up and looked at three. "And Howard I recommend a therapist to really delve into which parent caused these issues for you. Goodbye." She gave a small smile and left them.

Raj suddenly let out a very big breath. "Finally! She just wouldn't stop being talking!"

"You're the one who needs a therapist." Leonard stated sarcastically to Raj. "A male therapist."

"Like I'd listen to someone who is friends with Sheldon Cooper." Howard mocked but awkwardly glanced down after speaking.

#

Leonard arrived on Penny's street earlier than usual. He walked up to Sheldon's house door and knocked using his good arm. The familiar Mary Cooper opened the door.

"Hello." She gave a wide smile. "Another science project with Shelly?"

"One of Sheldon's friends was concerned. He didn't turn up at school." He explained.

"Oh, right." She said. "Come in." she gestured inside the house and Leonard walked in. "Would you like a beverage or a snack?"

"No, I'm okay." He said. "Where is Sheldon?"

She sighed. "He is in his room. He hasn't it left it all day. I tried reciting psalms and counting to three but it didn't work. That was when I knew to leave him alone."

"Why is he this way?" Leonard questioned.

"He tried to explain but I couldn't understand." She said.

"Can I at least see him?" Leonard asked.

"I'll try." She said. "Follow me."

She walked down to where Sheldon's room was and Leonard followed. His bedroom door was shut firmly. Ms. Cooper knocked.

"Shelly! A friend is here!"

"I don't want to talk to Amy!" Sheldon said through the door.

"No, it is Leonard." She told him. "Who is Amy?"

"Doesn't matter mother!" he said. "What does he want?"

"He wants to know how you're feeling." She said.

"I don't have feelings!" he insisted. "Do not let Leonard come in here!"

Sheldon's mother ignored this and opened the door. Sheldon was typing something frantically on a computer.

"Leonard will speak to you." She said firmly. "No arguing!"

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Fine!"

"I'll leave you two to talk." Mary smiled sweetly at Leonard and walked away.

"What do you want?" Sheldon asked harshly.

"Amy sent me here." Leonard explained. "She is really concerned. Apparently you were in a bad mood and then you didn't turn up at school today."

"I'm not going back there." Sheldon shook his head. "All they do is try and contain my genius. My idea for teacher assessments would have made that awful place better!"

"Sheldon. The teachers don't want people criticising them even if it is justified." He said. "So of course they wouldn't want to implement what you proposed."

"Oh, I see. You're with them too." Sheldon looked offended. "Leave this house now!"

"Sheldon, I didn't mean…"

"Goodbye Leonard." Sheldon stood up and walked over to the doorway. "Go and live in mediocrity at that nightmare." And slammed the bedroom door in Leonard's face.

Leonard took a deep breath and turned away. He dialled Amy.

"I've been waiting for your call." Amy said.

"I just saw Sheldon." Leonard said. "He told me about the presentation. And he forced me to leave."

"Is he okay?"

"Physically he is fine." Leonard said. "But emotionally, he seems to be angry. Whatever happened must've sparked some sort of rage."

Leonard heard Amy sigh. "I wish I could go over there. But my mother has added even more security."

"Amy. What are you talking to?" Leonard heard another voice.

"Got to go." Amy said and hung up.

#

"So how are you and Priya?" Penny asked. Leonard was currently in Penny's bedroom but hadn't begun tutoring yet.

"I haven't seen her since the incident." He held up his sprained arm and Penny knew exactly what he meant. "We've talked on the phone but haven't gotten anything organised for a next date."

"I'm sure she will plan something." Penny reassured.

"I shouldn't have lied to her about the contacts." He told her. "That kind of thing might make Priya think I lie all the time."

Penny nodded. "I think it was worse that you lied about it to get sex."

"I didn't lie about it to get sex, Penny." He clarified. "I lied about it so she thought I trusted her opinion. Howard and Raj said something about reading a text Priya sent to her friend which stated that."

"She might think that though." Penny said. "That you are some horn-dog."

"I'm not Howard Wolowitz." He said. "I wouldn't go so low as to trick her into sex or anything…"

"Have you ever had sex?" Penny asked.

Leonard's face went bright red. "Huh?"

"If I'm going to help you I need to know how experienced you are." she clarified.

Leonard shook his head. "My… uh… sexual experience is private."

"You said you trusted me." She said.

"I know." Leonard said. "I've said that before. In New Jersey. It went horribly wrong."

Penny gave a concerned look. "I don't understand how bad it was."

"Of course you don't." Leonard said. "You are popular and pretty. All the guys want you and girls want to be you."

"Well help me understand." Penny said.

Leonard shook his head. "We should begin tutoring. We were talking about Newton's three Laws. Can you tell me what they are?"

"Something stays the way it is unless something changes it's… umm.. way. And each action has an equal and opposite reaction." Penny said. "And the other one. Umm… Damn! I can't think of it!"

"The force acting on an object is equal to the mass of that object times its acceleration." Leonard remembered from his own science class.

"I know!" Penny said. "I was just distracted thinking of why things were so bad with you."

"I told you some of it before at your party." Leonard said. "Which you probably don't remember because you were wasted from the drink Kurt got you."

"So you are only going to tell me important stuff when I'm drunk?" she questioned. "I thought we were friends."

"We are!" Leonard said.

"Then why is this so hard, Leonard?" she said loudly.

Suddenly the bedroom door opened and Penny's dad stood in the doorway. "What is going on? I heard some loud voices."

"It is nothing." Penny lied. "I was angry I got an answer wrong."

"Oh, you'll get it right slugger." He said with a smile.

Penny gave a weak smile. "Thanks dad." She said. He closed the door and left the two of them.

Leonard sighed. "I have deep psychological issues, Penny. It has made me want to remain distant from people. I'm even surprised I even have someone to go on dates with."

Penny nodded. "Okay. I won't ask you about sex." She said. "Maybe for the rest of the session we should concentrate on science only."

"Okay." Leonard agreed. "What is Newton's second law?"

Penny gave a smile. "The force is equal to mass times acceleration."

#

The next day Leonard, Howard and Raj were sitting at the same cafeteria table. It had unknowingly become routine for the three of them.

"We haven't figured out who Priya is dating." Raj said.

"Okay." Leonard nodded. He then gave a thoughtful expression. "Why did you never think I was dating Priya?"

Raj gave a laugh. "She told me you were ball of nervous energy after working with you for a day. She was definitely not impressed."

Leonard didn't know if Priya had told Raj the truth. Had she been honest with Raj or was she covering up their relationship?

Like the day before Amy took the seat next to Leonard. Howard opened his mouth to speak but Amy looked him straight in the eye. Howard instantly stopped himself.

"Leonard, I believe our phone call was cut-short yesterday." She explained. "I would like to discuss more about Sheldon's state."

"Oh." Leonard remembered. "Sheldon's mother said he'd been in his bedroom all day. He explained about the failure of his presentation and when I tried to comfort him it seemed he thought I was against him. He forced me to leave."

Amy nodded. "When I tried to use my knowledge of human emotion to comfort him he also thought I was against him."

Leonard sighed. "I don't know Sheldon that well. I don't know what I'd do."

"If only I could talk to him." Amy said. "I've left him many voice messages."

"Oh, we all know what that means." Howard said. "You are into Sheldon."

"Everything about our relationship is platonic." Amy's speech sounded the same but Leonard noticed her fists clench.

"Please don't do this now, Howard." Leonard warned. "She is clearly not in the mood for your flirting."

"What do you think, Raj?" Amy asked. "Sheldon had a small amount of respect for your intelligence."

Raj glanced at Amy, then at Leonard and then back at Amy. Then he looked down.

"If you really want to talk to him just go to his house." Leonard suggested.

"I explained this already." Amy shook her head in disappointment. "My mother won't let me out other than to school."

"How so?"

"She picks me up and then keeps me in my room…"

"What if I drove you there?" Leonard ask. "I drove myself to school and my car is in the parking lot."

"I don't know…" Amy seemed hesitant. "Firstly I don't trust someone with a cast to operate a motor vehicle. And secondly I already spent too much time in the sin…. I mean having my mother angry at me this week."

"It is just a suggestion." Leonard said. "You can do whatever you want. Meet me up after school if you accept. And my cast doesn't affect the usage of my arm much."

"Okay. I'll think about." Amy said. There was a silence for a few seconds. Amy seemed to notice this. "I'm sorry. Sheldon is not here and Bernadette is sick. I don't have anyone else to be with."

"Please stay here." Howard gave a smile.

Leonard rolled his eyes at Howard's creepiness. "Stay here if you feel comfortable."

Amy smiled. "Great!" Raj's eyes opened wide in objection but no one noticed. He couldn't say anything to get anyone's attention.

Leonard remembered Sheldon loved being alone and would have left the conversation when he'd finished getting what he needed from them. Or would've been stubborn and done it himself. Amy seemed more social than Sheldon or at least had some sort of yearning to be social.

#

Leonard walked out to school's student car park. He didn't see Amy on his way out so he assumed she must be too scared of her mother's discipline. However, as he walked up to his car he saw the familiar grandma-esque outfit in front of it.

"I'm going to Sheldon's house." She nodded. "I need to set his mind straight."

"And your mother?" Leonard questioned.

Amy shrugged. "Chances are she'll punish me for something. Why not this?"

Leonard gave her an odd look. He knew he had his own problems with his parents but Amy's attitude towards hers seemed a lot worse.

Leonard unlocked the car and the two of them got inside. Leonard drove off towards Sheldon's house.

#

Leonard knocked on the door to Sheldon's house with Amy standing beside him. She looked nervous as she was fidgeting with her sleeves. As expected Sheldon's mother answered.

"Hello Leonard." She greeted. "And…"

"I'm Amy Farrah Fowler." She spoke up quickly. "I'm here to see Sheldon."

"Really?" Sheldon's mother looked confused.

"I believe I might help his mental state since I worked with him on the teacher assessment proposal." She explained. "And since we have similar personalities I believe I'll be able to speak to him a manner he can relate."

Sheldon's mother gave another confused look. "She thinks she can help him feel better." Leonard translated.

"Oh." She said. "Come in." she gestured inside. Amy stepped inside and Leonard followed.

"I made Sheldon some strawberry quick but he said no to it." She said. "Would you like some?"

"I want to talk to Sheldon." Amy said bluntly.

"His room is down the hallway and to the right." Mary Cooper explained. "Don't sin."

"I don't believe in the concept of sin…"Amy began but Leonard saw this could be trouble.

"Thank you Ms. Cooper." He interrupted. Amy nodded in agreement and walked down the hallway.

"Are you going to talk to him as well?" Mary asked Leonard.

Leonard shook his head. "I'm not going to make things worse. Can I please have some of that strawberry quick though?"

Mary smiled. "Of course." She got out a glass and poured a pink liquid into it. Leonard tasted it and it was delicious.

"You used the powder?"

"Just how Shelly likes it."

Suddenly Leonard's phone buzz so he said 'Excuse me' to Ms. Cooper and looked at it.

 _My parents are going away this weekend. Raj is going. Home alone cause of work. Wanna come over? – Priya._

The first thing that came to Leonard's mind was Penny. If he didn't want to embarrass himself, he needed to know what it meant by being invited to her house. He thought it might be another attempt by Priya to get them to have sex. But then he'd have to know what that would entail. Leonard remembered seeing Penny's car in the driveway when he came here. She'd be home.

"I'm sorry but I have to leave." He said. "If Amy asks where I am tell her I'm at Penny's."

"Don't sin!" Ms. Cooper advised as Leonard left the Cooper residence.

#

Sheldon's door was shut when Amy walked up to it. She knocked on the door.

"What is it mother?" Sheldon questioned.

"It is Amy!" she said.

"Oh." He realised. "Do not come in! I'm busy!"

Amy didn't want this trip to be wasted so she grabbed the doorknob and opened it. Sheldon was reading a piece of paper and he had an annoyed expression.

"I wish my mother would let me have a door lock" He said to himself. He then looked in Amy's direction but not at her eyes. "Please Leave!"

"Just give me ten minutes!" she pleaded. "If you still want me to leave after that I will."

"Are you not fibbing about that?" Sheldon questioned.

"No." she shook her head.

Sheldon grabbed a phone and got out the timer. He entered ten minutes and began the timer. "Start talking."

"Sheldon what happened in the school board meeting was their fault and not yours." She began. "Our idea was great. Our proposal was great. It has nothing to do with you. You don't need this one rejection to bring you down." She finished speaking and looked at Sheldon for a response.

"I thought you'd understand this better Amy." He shook his head in disappointment. "Ever since I came to that school I've been rejected for my intelligence."

"That isn't true…"

"Each day I see my teachers roll their eyes when I correct them about an obvious mistake or add an interesting fact that people should know." he explained. "And my classmates are even worse. They make fun of me behind my back but I hear it. I know they call me names like 'Shelbot' and 'Mr. Whackadoodle'. I went into that meeting to implement useful change to the school. I guess their rejection showed me that school cannot do anything for me."

"Sheldon…" Amy began. "You can't let it keep you locked up in your room for the rest of the life."

"I am well aware!" he said. "So I'm going to run away!"

Amy's eyes widened in panic. "You can't do that!"

"I can." He said. He went over to his work desk and grabbed several letters. "Look at these."

Amy looked at them and saw exactly what they were. They were acceptance letters from a large array of colleges. Caltech. Harvard. Cambridge. Stanford. Colombia. Princeton. Even MIT.

"Why did you apply to MIT?" she asked.

"That is just how desperate I was." He said. "Every semester I apply for every college and they always accept, of course. I just have to reject it because my mother says I need to socialise with people my age. Which is poppycock. So I'm going to run away instead."

Amy began to feel sad. "What about me Sheldon?"

"I must admit spending time the past weeks with you has been worthwhile. I thought doing that project with Leonard would be pointless but it helped me find the one person who seemed like they had brains." He elaborated. "But I then saw you siding with them. I just saw the next year and a half of high school and how it would be disappointing."

"No, Sheldon…" she began but the phone's timer went off.

"Ten minutes is over." He said. "And I'd still like you to leave."

"That can't be…"

"Goodbye." He said. "It was nice knowing you."

"But…"

"Leave!" Sheldon suddenly demanded.

Amy put her head down and walked out of the room. The door slammed close. Suddenly a tear flowed down her face and the another. She wiped them on her sleeve. Amy walked back towards the door when Mary Cooper saw her.

"Leonard said he'd be at Penny's…. Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "What did he say to you? Why are you crying?"

"It is nothing." She rejected the comfort.

"The next time he talks to you I am making him apologise!" she said.

Amy shook her head and another tear went down her face. "That is if I ever see him again." She thought of what she had just lost. Someone who wasn't intimidated or disturbed by her way of thinking, the first time she'd met someone like that her age, and now he was planning on leaving. She turned away from Ms. Cooper and ran out of the house.

 _To be continued…_

 **More Shamy than usual. I'd written this chapter before several reviews requested more Shamy and a review not wanting too much Shamy. To clarify the main aspect of the story is Leonard and next chapter he will have to discuss with Penny 'sex' and go to Priya's house. And you will see what happens to Shamy too but I don't want you to think I'm completely omitting Shamy or having too much Shamy in comparison to before. This story has Shamy but not like many other great fanfics do. I've added as much of it as needed for the plot I have in my mind.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Amy being with the three guys is hopefully a beginning to get the girls and Sheldon together with them as a friendship group. Obviously Amy is more likely to interact with others than Sheldon as seen by her character on the show. Also I added Leonard driving despite his sprain because of the plot but I wouldn't recommend it.**

 **If you wish to remain updated, please favourite and follow here or on tumblr(clintcooper). Please review if you'd like to leave feedback. Thank you all again.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	11. The Bullying Elaboration

Leonard walked over to Penny's house. He had just left Amy at Sheldon's house and assumed she was trying her hardest to cheer him up. But he didn't need to worry about Sheldon and Amy's problems at that moment due to a text from Priya about going to her house when her parents and brother were away.

Leonard suspected Penny had her experience with 'home alone' dates and she was probably home due to her car being in the driveway. He rang her doorbell and waited. Several minutes went by and there was no response. He rang the doorbell again and continued to wait. The door opened and a familiar male opened the door. But it wasn't Penny's father. It was Kurt.

"Hey Lenny." Kurt said mockingly and patted Leonard's head like a dog. Leonard sighed with disdain.

"What are you doing here?" Leonard questioned.

"I'm here with Penny since I'M her boyfriend." He told him. "That is all I will say"

"I see." Leonard realised "Oh!" he thought of why it had taken some time for them to get to the door. Chances are they were doing something intimate.

"Why are you here?" Kurt gave a suspicious look. "Penny has no tutoring today!"

Leonard gulped. "Well…" he began to think. "Well…" He didn't know if Penny told him about how she was helping him with his love life.

"You can't remember?" Kurt gave a small laugh. "I thought you were a brain!"

A lie appeared in Leonard's mind. "I was visiting Sheldon next door and I remembered that I wanted to give Penny some physics questions."

"Really? Shelbot?" Kurt questioned. "Isn't he a psycho freak?"

Leonard ignored this insult to Sheldon. "Can you tell Penny to try questions 1 to 10 on chapter 4 of the textbook." He said "Also tell her that 1 to 5 should be easy but when you get to 6 to 10 that she might need to…"

"Whatever dude." Kurt said. "I'll tell her about the thing you just said. Can I go back to MY girlfriend now? I didn't expect to spend time talking to a guy this evening."

"You can do that."

"Bye Lenny." Kurt said and quickly closed the door on him. Leonard took a deep breath and felt relieved that this interaction with Kurt didn't end in his new glasses being broken.

Leonard walked back towards Sheldon's house thinking of this interaction. One of his tutoring requirements was not being anywhere Kurt but he'd just broken his own rule. He hoped Penny wouldn't mind that he visited as he didn't want awkwardness at their next session.

He spotted someone walking hastily out of Sheldon's home. It was Amy who had her face in her hands. She went to Leonard's car and leant on it. Leonard noticed a tear falling from her face.

"Amy?" Leonard questioned. She looked up in surprise and quickly wiped her face.

"I'm ready to go home." Her face changed immediately to be expressionless but it was still red and had a tear falling down.

"Are you okay?"

"If you're going to be emotional I will just walk home. I don't need talking to distract your motor skills!" she quickly ignored the question. "You already have that cast that makes me want to jump out the car at every second…"

"Okay!" Leonard said back. "No need to go all Beverly Hofstadter on me!" he added with sarcasm. Amy gave a confused look but Leonard ignored this. He got into the drivers seat with no more talking. He prepared himself for some awkward silence with Amy Farrah-Fowler.

#

The next day at school Leonard, Howard and Raj were sitting at their usual table during lunch. Raj was writing some homework down on a notepad.

"Why are you doing this weekend's homework already?" Howard asked. "I didn't think you were that much of a geek."

Raj rolled his eyes. "Firstly you are a hypocrite anytime you tease my geekiness and secondly I am going away with my parents this weekend so I need to get this done today!" Leonard knew this already from Priya.

"Is your sister going?" Howard asked.

Raj looked suspicious. "No. But that doesn't mean you try and get with her whilst I'm not there!"

Howard raised his hands defensively. "Okay. You know I've promised you I wouldn't try and get with her."

The group was interrupted by a loud sneeze. The group turned and saw Bernadette walking into the cafeteria carrying a handkerchief a bright red nose.

"Amy said she was sick." Raj remembered.

Howard cringed. "She still looks sick."

Bernadette walked towards the table with Penny but Leonard heard one of Penny's friends speak.

"Ew! The nerd is sick! I hope she doesn't sit near us!"

Bernadette noticed too and made a turn away from them. She made it seem like she was intending from the beginning to walk away from Penny's table. Bernadette was instead heading for Leonard's table.

"She is going to get us all sick." Raj whispered. "I can't be sick on my trip."

"Well shut your mouth like you usually do around her and you'll be fine." Howard suggested. "I myself wouldn't care about getting sick if I'd get a chance to do her."

Leonard gave a small laugh. "Based on what you just said you already are sick. Just a different kind…"

"Hello." Bernadette greeted with a sniffle. "Have you seen Amy?"

"I haven't seen Amy since I drove her home yesterday." Leonard explained.

Bernadette wiped her nose with her handkerchief and then talked. "Amy didn't answer my texts. I've also noticed Sheldon is not here."

"He hasn't been here for a few days." Leonard explained.

"Amen to that." Howard said happily.

Bernadette suddenly sneezed and then continued to speak. "Without Amy and Penny's goons quarantining me I'll just have to say here."

Howard gave a creepy smile. "I have something you can sit on…"

"On a second thought I'll just be in the library." She turned and left.

"You do realise your problem with woman right?" Leonard asked.

"No." Howard shook his head. "What?"

"You say creepy stuff to them!" Leonard said, "How have you not realised that."

"They're just pick-up lines!"

"Oprah said that a good deed or gesture is worth a thousand pick-up lines." Raj said. "It is why guys buy girls drinks."

"You're only saying that because you can't say pick-up lines to girls…"

"Raj is correct." Leonard said. "My mother is a psychologist and she once wrote doing something good for her brings back either fond or wishful subconscious memories about her father."

"I thought you hated your mother." Raj said.

Leonard sighed. "I hate when she writes about me and uses me for psychology experiments." He explained. "I can't deny that sometimes she has valid theories."

Leonard couldn't believe he had just said something like that out loud. He was happy that Michael was at the popular table and couldn't hear him. He did noticed Howard thinking about something. Had what he and Raj said gotten to him?

#

Leonard walked into Penny's room for their next tutoring session. She was at her desk getting some books out of her bag. She turned to see him and gave a small smile.

"I have something to show you!" she said happily. She reached into her book and got out a page full of work. There was a 75% on it.

"What is this?" Leonard asked.

"We had a surprise practice test for the test we have next week for science." She explained. "This was without rigorous study the nights before."

Leonard couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "You're becoming a nerd."

"This is only regular science though." Penny said. "You get much better grades in advanced."

Leonard shrugged and reached into his backpack. "I also proof read your English essay. There are a few errors but nothing that can't be easily fixed." He handed to her.

"Thank you." She said.

There was a moment of silence as the two awkwardly looked around the room.

"Kurt said you dropped by." Penny suddenly had a stern look on his face. "You can't do that. He gets easily suspicious."

"I'm sorry." He apologised.

"I don't need another lecture from him not trusting me to keep it in my…" Penny stopped. "Why did you stop by? Kurt said something about physics questions."

"Priya wants to have sex with me." Leonard said. Penny's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"What?" she asked.

Leonard realised how blunt he'd been. "Well she has invited me over to her house when no one else is there." He explained. "I'm not too good at reading signals but… that might be her attempt to continue what I prevented when I sprained my arm."

Penny nodded. "I think you are right."

"Do you have any advice?" Leonard asked.

"I need to know how experienced you are." Penny said. "Which you say you can't."

Leonard took a deep breath. He knew he wanted Penny's advice after the disaster date without it. "I've never done it before."

"You're a virgin?" she tried to clarify.

Leonard gulped. He couldn't believe he was admitting this. "Well… yeah."

"Why would it be so bad if I knew that?" she asked.

Leonard shook his head. "That doesn't matter." He said.

"It doesn't? Or you're too afraid to admit anything?"

"I am not afraid." Leonard lied.

Penny pulled a chair over to where she was sitting and gestured to it. "Tell me everything." She said. "I want to know."

Leonard gave a suspicious look. "Penny…"

"I won't tell anyone anything." She promised. She looked at him with trusting eyes and for some reason Leonard believed her. The past few weeks with Penny had created a degree of trust between them and Leonard had not realised this until that very moment. He then began to think of why the popular girl and him would have this trust but Penny interrupted. "Come on, Leonard!"

Leonard sighed and sat across from Penny. "Okay. I'll explain everything." He then began to explain. "At my old school I was my nerdy self but a lot less awkward and shy. I was bullied and ostracised but it was nothing too extraneous. However, my mother, who uses me and my siblings as experimental subjects, wrote a book on me and my brother's psycho-sexual development. The book was praised by everyone in the industry and someone at school found out about it. Everyone started teasing me about it but it was nothing more than usual bullying. Then a girl became friends with me for no reason. I was initially suspicious but I was desperate for friends so I played along. I even told her about my virginity. I was invited to one of her parties and went along excited for my first high school party."

Leonard paused to think of what to say next.

"And then what happened?" Penny questioned curiously.

"Well it turned out to be an entire prank from my entire school grade and it is worse than anything Kurt has ever done to any of the nerds here." Leonard explained. "Firstly they threw insults and excerpts from my mother's book. The girl and her friends shouted 'virgin' with negative connotations. I tried to leave but some of the sportier kids threw alcohol at me and one punched me several times in the stomach. I pretty much had to wrestle my way out of there."

Penny put her hands over her face in shock. "Oh my gosh! No wonder you were hesitant to tell me stuff and make friends!"

"I know." Leonard responded. "I've been fairly distant from people ever since."

"Did any of those bullies get in trouble?" Penny asked.

Leonard shook his head. "No. I was afraid that if I told any teacher they'd beat me up or something."

"Surely your parents did something. Or your brother. He is with the cool kids."

"My brother wasn't at high school at the time." Leonard explained. "My father was on a two-month archaeological expedition so he couldn't do anything. And my mother… told me to 'buck up' and then used it to explain the next period of my development in her next book."

Penny gave a glare. "That b-word!" she exclaimed. "I want to yell at her for being so not considerate."

"Inconsiderate." Leonard corrected. "And I don't care about mother much anymore. The books she writes about me are complete a fabrication."

Penny nodded. "We need to show your mother and every cool kid that you aren't someone to mocked!"

"Don't get carried away, Penny." Leonard said.

"I'm going to give you all the advice you need to help with Priya." Penny said. "That way if you run into those bullies ever again you can tell them to screw themselves since you have someone to screw you for you and they probably don't since they're so cruel."

Leonard gave a small laugh at her sentiment. "Okay." He nodded. "Tell me anything you think is relevant."

#

"My name is Bernadette. I am Amy's friend at school." Bernadette explained herself. She was at Amy's front door and hoped that her new friend was fine. Amy once gave Bernadette her address in case she needed it. Bernadette was beginning to get concerned after Amy kept ignoring her messages. She was standing in front of a short but stern looking woman.

"Amy is not speaking to anyone right now." She said. "And she isn't going to school for a few days."

"Why not?" Bernadette asked. "If she doesn't attend she'll fall behind!"

"She disobeyed me and the Lord." She rebutted. "You seem like a nice young lady so I will not shock you with what she did."

"I think I can handle it." Bernadette tried to give a smile.

Amy's mother gave a disappointed sighed. "She ran off to some boy's house without permission from me and rode in a perverted male's car."

"If you mean Sheldon I doubt they did anything."

Amy's mother looked offended. "I take back what I said about you being a nice lady." She said. "I see the devil has taken over you too. I will not allow you to speak to Amy."

Amy's mother slammed the door and Bernadette rolled her eyes. An entire trip for no reason and Amy seemed to be grounded. She walked back to her car when she heard someone banging on a window. She turned and saw it was near the side of the house. The window had large thick bars across it.

"Amy?!" Bernadette shouted. The banging on the window continued and got louder and faster like it was from desperation. Bernadette heard muffled shouting and the banging stopped. "Amy!" Bernadette shouted once again. No response. Bernadette felt worried that something had happened to her so she dialled the person who would know what to do.

"Hello Dad!" she said frantically

"Hey." Bernadette's father answered. "You seem flustered. Are you okay?"

"One of my friends might be in trouble." She explained. "I might be overreacting or something but I'm really worried."

"What is happening?" he now also seemed frantic.

"She was banging on her window in her home and I heard shouting." she explained. "I'm concerned. Please help!"

"I'll be right there honey!" he said. "Just give me the address and I'll be there!" Bernadette gave her father the address. "Keep safe Bernadette. I don't want you being in trouble too."

"I'll be safe." She said.

Bernadette's father hung up and she knew she'd have to wait. She heard no more noises from within her house which continued to make her worried.

#

Leonard knocked on the door to Priya's house and looked at the house. He'd lived in Los Angeles for a few weeks and this was the biggest of his friend's houses so far. Sheldon's and Penny's houses were small working class homes and his own was a little extravagant due to his mother's book and Caltech money. Priya's house was a mansion in comparison to any of those three. He knocked on the door without concentration due to binge enamoured by the house. Priya opened the door.

"I'm glad to see you." She gave a smile. "Come in."

Leonard walked in and the house was just as impressive on the inside. "Your house is so big." Leonard commented. "I thought your dad was just a gynaecologist."

Priya nodded. "He is the gynaecologist of a lot of famous women in Los Angeles who don't want their problems leaked to the press or anything. I believe he is highly trusted."

"So he is like the gynaecologist to actresses. "Leonard wondered.

Priya nodded. "Yep. But my dad refuses to say which ones."

Leonard sighed. "I didn't realise your house would be this big when I was going to come over."

"I didn't think it was a necessary conversation." Priya said.

Leonard nodded. "I understand." He said. "What should we do?"

Priya raised her eyebrows. "We should continue where we left off at our last date."

"You mean before I tripped over and embarrassed myself." Leonard remembered. He looked down at his arm which was still had a small cast on it.

"Yep." Priya said.

She suddenly reached over to him and kissed him. Leonard kissed her back for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Can we talk about this first?" Leonard asked.

"What would we need to say?" Priya asked.

"Like our previous experiences." Leonard explained. "Just to elaborate on our skills… I think…"

Leonard remembered something Penny said.

 _"I always think it is good to know how experienced your partner is." Penny explained._

 _Leonard gave a confused look. "Why?"_

 _"If she doesn't know it is your first time she may be expecting more. You might be expecting more too." Penny said. "I knew Kurt was experienced when I first uh…. Well… I guess I mean I knew we could go a little faster when we first began umm…"_

 _"I understand." Leonard nodded._

Priya thought. "Well I've had sex with two people before." She explained. "There was Sanjay who I met at temple. We dated for about six months. The other time was a random hook-up when I was getting over Sanjay. He was a football player but I don't remember his name."

"I've never done it before." Leonard admitted.

"Really?" Priya asked in surprise. "But you're so cute."

Leonard thought if Priya knew about the embarrassments at his old school she wouldn't be thinking that. But Leonard wasn't going to tell her. "I've never done it. Umm… I guess the next thing we should talk about is protection."

"I'm on the pill." Priya said.

"I have condoms." Leonard said. He usually didn't carry them around but Penny had suggested he buy some. Of course this was common sense but to someone inexperienced it might have slipped his mind.

Priya nodded. "Okay. I think that is probably everything we need to know. Let's go to my bedroom."

#

Bernadette watched the house nervously and found herself sneezing more than expected due to the nervousness. She felt relieved when she saw her father's police car drive up. She wiped her nose with a handkerchief before he saw her. He got out the car and was with his work partner.

"Thank goodness dad!" she said. "It is that house there." She pointed at Amy's house.

"I'll do my best honey." He said. The two policemen walked up to the house and Bernadette followed. They knocked on the door and after a few seconds Amy's mother opened the door.

"Hello officers." She said nicely. "How can I help you?"

"Can we please speak to your daughter?" he asked.

Amy's mother looked annoyed. "What has she done?"

"Nothing." He said. "We just had a concerned call about her. We want to make sure she is in a good state."

"I assure you, she is completely fine." Her mother insisted.

"We'd like to speak to her then." Mike Rostenkowski insisted.

"She is not speaking to anyone." She refused.

"Where is she?" Bernadette asked.

Amy's mother saw Bernadette and gave a glare. "This was the devil worshipper who called you. Don't believe her words!"

"Don't call my daughter a devil worshipper!" he said with force. "Now where is your daughter?"

Amy's mother gave a worried look. "She isn't here…"

"She is lying. I heard banging and…" Bernadette argued. As if to prove her point they heard a large banging noise inside the home.

"What was that?" They asked Amy's mother.

"You have no right to know."

Bernadette's father stepped passed Amy's mother and into the house. Amy's mother, Bernadette and Mike's partner followed. The noise was coming from a cupboard in the living room. The door was locked.

"Unlock this right away!" he insisted.

"You are trespassing!" she shouted. "God will curse you!"

Bernadette's father and his partner grabbed a metal device from their uniforms and began to try to force the lock open. After a minute the lock came off and the door flew open. Inside Amy was sitting on a small chair. Her eyes were red and she was crying. She looked dazed and malnourished.

"Amy!" Bernadette shrieked.

"Get out of here Bernadette." Her father insisted. "We'll take this from here."

"But dad…"

"Get out of this house." He ordered.

Bernadette knew he was concerned for her safety and she quickly left. The image of Amy in the closet was imprinted in her brain. Why would anyone want to do that to Amy?

#

Leonard and Priya were now kissing in her bedroom. She'd pulled of his shirt and he'd pulled off hers. He then went and began unclipping her bra.

"What was that?" Priya suddenly asked. Leonard gave a look of confusion.

"I didn't hear anything." He said. "You must be paranoid."

Priya nodded. "You are right." The two continued kissing. However, the two heard someone's footsteps creak outside their door.

"Who was that?" Leonard asked.

"Sssh." She shushed him "I don't know. Don't make a sound!"

Both Leonard and Priya quickly rushed to put their clothes back on.

"Hide somewhere." Priya ordered.

"Where?" Leonard whispered as he looked around.

Suddenly there was a hesitant knock at the door. "Hello." He heard the familiar voice of Howard Wolowitz. "If you're a robber please leave! I am strong and mighty!"

Priya was paralysed with nervousness and didn't respond. The door knob slowly turned and the door opened. Howard saw the two in the room together.

"Priya? Leonard?" he questioned. "What are you…. No… You aren't Priya' guy friend?"

"No I'm a prostitute." Leonard said sarcastically. Priya gave Leonard a glare and Leonard knew that wasn't a good time for a joke

"What are you doing here?" Priya asked angrily.

"Raj said I could use the house when you were at work and he said you'd be there now." Howard explained. "Does Raj know you two are…?"

"Of course not." Leonard justified. "Priya wanted it to be a secret!"

"I'm going to have to tell Raj." Howard said.

"Please Howard don't…" Priya pleaded.

"It was going to happen eventually." Leonard justified. "Your family will have to find out about me eventually if we intend on having a long term…"

"I can't deal with this now! You two have to leave." Priya glared at them. "Leave now!"

"Priya, you have to realise…" Leonard began to explain himself.

"Leave!" this was more forceful and Leonard sighed.

"Let's go Howard." Leonard said. He grabbed Howard's arm and had to pull him out of the home.

"Did you do her?" Howard asked once they'd left.

"Thanks to you, no." Leonard said furiously. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he looked at it. It was from an unknown number.

 _This is hard to explain but something happened to Amy. I need some people to support her at Pasadena hospital. I know you and Sheldon talk. Please try and get him to come here. From Bernadette_

"Who is it?" Howard asked.

"Bernadette." He told him. "Looks like I'll have to speak to Sheldon again. I'm going to collect him and bring him to Pasadena hospital."

"Bernadette!" Howard smiled. "I'm going to the Pasadena hospital!"

Leonard rolled his eyes and got into his car. He drove towards Sheldon's home. He noticed Howard, riding a bike, turning away towards the direction of the hospital.

 **I know this is a long chapter but it was a long break between chapters. I've been on holiday for two weeks and I had no computer so I couldn't write. But I had been thinking about the story during that time and I think I'm happy with the direction it went here.**

 **Next chapter will have Leonard telling Sheldon about Amy being in trouble where Sheldon is still moping and trying to run away. Will he care or not? And Leonard will have to think about his relationship with Priya after what happened.**

 **Thank you all for reading. What did you think about what happened? Please favourite and follow here or on tumblr(clintcooper) and please review if you want to leave feedback.**

 **Thank again for your patience.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	12. The Hospital Assembly

Bernadette sat in the waiting room of the Pasadena Hospital. It had been half an hour since she had arrived there. Her father had told her that he and the hospital would take care of Amy but she refused to leave until she knew Amy's status. The awful image of Amy in the closet was still in the front of her brain.

She got out her phone and scrolled through Facebook to see if anything would cheer her up. However, it was just people complaining about politics or some stupid thing a celebrity did. She sighed and put the phone away. She stood up and walked over to the reception.

"Can I see Amy Farrah-Fowler yet?" she asked politely to woman working there. The woman shook her head.

"The police and doctors are still talking to her." She informed Bernadette.

"How long until they are finished?" Bernadette asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't know." she told her. "Sometimes it is quick. Sometimes it takes hours."

Bernadette let out an exasperated breath and sat back down in the waiting room. She already had texted Leonard about Sheldon ten minutes before but had gotten no response. However, if they did come she hoped they would actually be able to see Amy.

The room's doors opened and Bernadette saw someone she didn't want to interact with at that moment. Howard Wolowitz. She rolled her eyes.

"Bernadette!" he exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Bernadette asked.

"I saw Leonard's text from you." Howard explained. "I rode straight here."

"Does that mean Leonard is going to get Sheldon?" Bernadette questioned.

Howard nodded. "It seemed that way."

"If that guy had any social skills and responded to my text then maybe I wouldn't have to ask you about that." Bernadette complained. She never quite got what was going on inside Leonard's head.

Howard sat down next to Bernadette and she instinctively leant away from him.

"You didn't really answer my question." She said. "Why are you here?"

"You seemed in distress." He told her. "And I couldn't turn down a damsel…"

"Oh shut up, Howard." She said sternly. "I don't need a knight in shining armour. Especially you."

Howard looked offended. "What have I done for those harsh words!"

Bernadette gave a confused look. "Are you being sarcastic?"

Howard shook his head. "I am always charming and…"

"Every time we interact you say something completely inappropriate and you think that is charming?" she asked.

"Bernadette…"

"The only way I ever got close to you was at Penny's party and that was to get you away from me." She said. "And I am not being tricked by you again."

"But it worked…"

"I am completely worried about Amy right now." Bernadette continued. "I don't need you and your perverted ways making my feelings worse!"

Howard didn't say anything after that and just sat in silence, processing this information. Bernadette felt like standing up and finding somewhere else to be.

"I apologise if I made you feel uncomfortable." He said. "I don't know how else I can get a girl's attention."

"You're in advanced classes. I'm sure you can figure something out!" Bernadette rebutted.

"No I can't." Howard said. "Look at me! I'm a scrawny weirdo. Look at all of us actually. No girl in the entire school would date me or Raj or Leonard. Leonard had to outsource to Raj's sister!"

"That is not true!" Bernadette said. "What about Leonard and Penny?"

"They aren't romantic." Howard said. "She is using him for grades or something."

Bernadette shook her head. "They are friends. They like each other. It may not be obvious to them but I can see it in them."

"Well not all of us can get Penny…"

"Stop making excuses Howard!" Bernadette said. "Even Sheldon found someone in Amy. And Raj doesn't have anyone because he can't talk to girls. But you! You have zero excuses."

"But look at me…"

Bernadette stood up. "I'm going to find something to eat! Don't follow me!" and she walked off, leaving Howard sitting in the waiting room.

#

Leonard parked his car outside Sheldon's home and walked up to the door. He knocked and soon after the familiar Mary Cooper opened the door.

"Good evening." She said politely. "Are you here for Shelly?"

"I need to speak to him." Leonard explained.

"He is still in his room. He only comes out for meals and the bathroom." She explained.

"This is important." He insisted.

Mary let him inside the house and Leonard walked to Sheldon's bedroom door. He knocked.

"Sheldon. It is Leonard!" Leonard said.

"Go away!"

"This is important. Amy needs you." Leonard said.

The door suddenly swung open and Sheldon stood in front of Leonard with a curious look.

"If this is about coitus I expect you to give Amy a good spanking." He said. Leonard did not detect any sarcasm.

"No." Leonard said awkwardly. "She is at the hospital. She apparently needs support."

Sheldon's eyes filled with concern. "What happened?"

Leonard shrugged. "Bernadette didn't tell me that."

Sheldon immediately gave a suspicious look. "I'm not an idiot. If this is some sort of intervention, then I am staying here!"

Leonard shook his head. "This is not an intervention. I think…"

"I am not explaining myself to anyone or having people explain their disdain for my ideas!" Sheldon argued.

"Wouldn't it be better if you did explain yourself?" Leonard questioned. "And not fragmented information from me and Amy."

Sheldon gave an offended look. "That logic is flawed."

"How?"

"I will figure it out when I feel it worth my time."

Leonard was beginning to get annoyed at Sheldon's resilience.

"Look, Sheldon!" he began to feel angry. "I don't know what Bernadette means or if she is setting up an intervention. But Amy apparently needs your support at the Pasadena Hospital and whether it is a cut on the finger or her head fell off she probably needs someone!"

Sheldon gave a cautious look. "Hospital. With germs?"

Leonard glared at Sheldon and began speaking very firmly. "Sheldon Cooper. I do not want to deal with this nonsense. Now get your things, follow me to the car and let me take you to the hospital."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "All right, geez. What a grouch."

Sheldon grabbed his wallet and phone and pushed past Leonard to leave. Leonard followed him.

"How did I do that? I've got to remember how I did that." Leonard thought aloud.

#

After Sheldon's mother handed the two of them a packed dinner, which made Leonard smile without realising it, the two left Sheldon's home but stopped as soon as they left. Two people were shouting at each other in Penny's front yard. Leonard and Sheldon gave each other an awkward glance at not knowing what to do.

"How do I know you aren't thinking of someone else when we're kissing or something?" Kurt's voice shouted.

"I could say the same to you!" Penny's voice shouted back. "I hear how you and the football team look at other girls!"

"But I don't receive texts from another female every second of the day!" Kurt shouted back.

"It was Bernadette! She needed his phone number so he could talk to Sheldon!" Penny yelled. Leonard felt shocked that he had bought on an argument.

"Why couldn't she ask you to talk to King Dork?!"

"Because Sheldon wouldn't listen to me! He hates me!"

"That is not true." Sheldon said to Leonard. "I just dislike her intelligence or lack thereof."

"Be quiet." Leonard shushed him.

"Well until we can spend a night together without him coming up we won't be spending nights together!" Kurt argued. He walked towards a sporty car and spotted Leonard and Sheldon watching them. He put up the middle finger at them before getting in the car and driving off. Leonard sighed in relief.

"I believe standing at my doorstop interrupts your pointless mission to take me to the hospital." Sheldon said logically.

"I agree." He said. The two walked towards Leonard's car but Leonard spotted Penny still standing in her front yard. She was crying.

"Why is she crying?" Sheldon asked. "I'd be pleased if Kurt walked away from me."

"Obviously she cares about his opinion." Leonard said. "Do you think I should do something?"

"If you think it will get you coitus, then no." Sheldon told him. "If it is for any other reason than still no."

Leonard rolled his eyes and walked over to Penny. Sheldon followed him. "Are you okay?" Leonard asked.

"It is nothing." Penny wiped a tear. "We argue all the time."

"Clearly if it happens all the time then it isn't nothing." Sheldon butted in. "In fact if it happens once it is still something."

Penny gave a confused look. "Oh. Hello Sheldon. I don't really know what you mean by that."

"Well it is good that you are feeling okay, Penny." Leonard interrupted. "I have to take Sheldon to see Amy at the Pasadena Hospital."

"Can I come with?" Penny asked.

"Why?" Sheldon asked quickly.

"I guess I don't want to be lonely right now." Penny said.

"You should buy a cat." Sheldon said. "I considered buying several when I was rejected by the school board."

Penny shook her head. "I'm fine, Sheldon."

"We should go. Bernadette may be angry if I take too much time." Leonard said.

Sheldon looked at the car carefully and then chose the front seat to sit in. Penny got in the back seat and Leonard got in the driver's seat. The car drove off to the hospital.

#

After getting a sandwich to eat Bernadette returned to the waiting room where Howard was still sitting. Bernadette rolled her eyes and didn't sit next to him.

The door to the hospital opened and Leonard, Sheldon and Penny walked in.

"Thank goodness you're finally here!" Bernadette seemed relieved. She quickly walked over to Penny and gave her a hug. Penny, initially confused for a few seconds, gave her a hug back.

"You didn't ask me to be here." Penny said pulling out of the hug.

"Yeah but it would've been weird if I hugged Leonard or Sheldon." Bernadette told her. Penny nodded knowingly.

Sheldon had his arms crossed like he didn't want to touch anything. "Well we're at a hospital which means you were honest about something." He said. "But where is Amy?"

"Amy is still being questioned by the police and doctors." Bernadette said.

"Police?" Leonard said in shock.

"Was she severing the webbing between her toes again?" Sheldon asked. "It was for science!"

Bernadette shook her head. "Much more concerning." She said. "Amy's mother locked her in a closet. I don't know for how long but she looked very 'out of it'." Bernadette suddenly shuddered.

"Are you alright Bernadette?" Penny asked.

"I can't get the image of Amy in that closet out of my head" she explained.

"So Bernadette is okay." Sheldon interrupted. "But what about Amy? Is she healthy?"

"I didn't see much more of her." Bernadette said. "I just know she felt kinda dizzy and then fainted on the way here."

"I should see her!" Sheldon insisted. "I know all of her medical information!"

"They aren't allowing us to see her until the doctors and police are finished." Bernadette explained. "We just have to wait."

"So I have to sit in this germ fiesta until she is ready to be seen!" Sheldon argued.

"What is more important? This girl or your weird germ fetish?!" Penny argued. Sheldon felt taken aback at Penny telling him what to do.

Sheldon nodded. "You are correct for once, Penny." He said. "She would love to see me as soon as she can."

Penny rolled her eyes and was about to argue back. Leonard turned to Penny. "Don't bother. The fact you convinced him is definitely good enough."

#

Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, Bernadette and Howard all sat quietly in the hospital waiting room. Bernadette was with Leonard, Sheldon and Penny in between her and Howard. Penny leant over to Leonard.

"Your house date with Priya was tonight wasn't it?" she whispered.

Leonard nodded. "Yep."

"And how did it go?" she asked. "Did Bernadette's text interrupt things?"

Leonard looked at Howard and gave a glare. "Bernadette wasn't the person who interrupted things."

Penny turned to Howard. "I was wondering why he was here."

"Apparently Raj allowed Howard to visit the house when Priya was at work." Leonard explained "Howard interrupted us when we were in Priya's bedroom being intimate. Priya freaked out and I tried comfort her by saying people would find out eventually if we dated for some time."

Penny shook her head in disbelief. "You didn't say that."

"I did." Leonard said. "She told Howard and I to leave. He saw the text from Bernadette and rushed here to creep at her or something."

"I'm sorry Leonard but that was a very silly thing to say." Penny said.

Leonard gave a confused look. "Why?"

"Clearly you went with the smarter response instead of thinking of how she felt." Penny said. "She probably felt flustered by the thought of everyone knowing about your relationship."

"What should have I done?" Leonard asked.

"You should've been trying to convince Howard to not tell anyone." Penny said. "Priya would have seen how you were on her side."

Leonard sighed. "This is all so complicated." He said. "All my life I've seen my mother try and trivialise emotions with logic and science. I've caught whatever disease she had."

Penny was taken aback by Leonard's lapse in self-esteem. "What your mother has done to you has nothing to do with this! You are nothing like her!"

Leonard remembered Penny had a strong reaction when he told her his mother told him to 'buck up' after he was bullied in New Jersey. She probably still sympathised with him for that.

"So what should I do now?" Leonard asked.

Penny thought for a second and then answered. "Well you should apologize to her. Make it known you think you were in the wrong."

"I can do that." Leonard nodded. "I do think I could have handled the situation better. But then what?"

"Whether she accepts the apology or not invite her somewhere nice. Valentine's Day is coming up in a week." She said. "No girl wants to be lonely on Valentine's Day."

Leonard nodded. "That makes sense. Thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome." Penny answered.

After a moment of silence Leonard spoke up. "What about you and Kurt?"

"We'll be fine." Penny shrugged it off. "The next time I proposition sex he'll forget about the argument."

Leonard gave a shocked glance. "After all the good advice you gave me and that is what you say about your own relationship? It looked like a pretty big argument."

"That is what sex is for Leonard." Penny gave a laugh. Leonard wondered if that response was hiding something.

Next to Leonard, Sheldon gave an exasperated sigh. "Do I have to hear the two of talk about insignificant drabble as I worry about Amy?" he questioned. "When you told me Amy was in the hospital I assumed it was urgent but I am sitting here in a germy hospital room listening to you talk. Maybe this was a way to trick me after all!"

"I apologise Sheldon." Leonard said. "I didn't know how long it would take."

"When I texted Leonard I didn't know how long it would be." Bernadette explained. "I may have hoped we'd be there at Amy's earliest convenience."

#

"Do you really think I hate you Penny?" Sheldon broke another long lapse of silence in the waiting room.

"You want to talk about me about that?" Penny asked.

"Well when I first sat down here I created a long list of possible topics to think about." Sheldon explained. "It began with quantum mechanics so obviously the quality of topics had diminished."

Penny rolled her eyes. "This is why I think you hate me. You always say stuff like that."

"Penny, he says stuff like that to everyone." Howard said.

"Not true." Sheldon corrected. "I don't say anything like that to Amy."

"Most people, then." Howard corrected himself.

Sheldon looked at Penny. "I don't hate you. As I said to Leonard before I dislike your level of intelligence but I don't hate you."

"You are always so critical around me." Penny said. "I just assumed you hated me."

"I hate 78 people. I have an official list." He explained. "You are not on that list."

"I expected that list to be longer." Howard quipped.

"Maybe I should add a 79th entry to that list." Sheldon threatened Howard. He then turned to Penny. "We've known each other as neighbours for several years. In that time your football team friends have stuffed me in toilets, broken my stationary, insulted my interests, kicked me in private places, Made me…"

"I get it." Penny interrupted.

"But you have never been directly involved with those." Sheldon said. "So I have no reason to hate you. I hate them instead and some of your friends take up a large portion of my hate list."

"I apologise for anything Kurt and the football team has done." Penny said. "I'm sure they don't mean it…"

"It is odd…" Sheldon thought aloud. "I might be mistaken but you sound apologetic about yourself even when it was them who did all those actions to me. I don't understand why."

"They're my friends." Penny justified. "I'm just defending them…"

"Why are they your friends?" Sheldon asked bluntly. "I've read that people can be friends just for social status and nothing else. Is this true?"

Sheldon looked at Penny curiously. Leonard, Bernadette and Howard were also looking at Penny for an answer. It was something that they had also thought at one point or another but never asked. Penny saw that everyone was looking at her and stood up.

"I'm going to get something to eat." She said and walked away.

"That was rude." Sheldon stated. Leonard sighed and wondered if he should go and talk to Penny. Bernadette looked at him and shook her head. So much for Penny not being lonely.

#

It took some time for Penny to brave going back to the waiting room after she had eaten. When she walked back in she saw everyone look at her and then look away. Sheldon looked like he was going to speak but Bernadette hit him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me!" the person at the reception said. "The police and doctors have finished in Amy's room. You may all go and see her now. Room 1C"

Instantly everyone stood up. "Thank you." Bernadette stood up. Bernadette led the way through the hospital corridors and the rest followed. They walked past a police officer that Bernadette recognised as her father's work partner. He was carrying a large folder of documents. The group all found the room and walked in. Bernadette's father was standing in the room and a very tired looking Amy was sitting up in the bed, eating a large hospital made meal. Her eyes looked surprised all the people who came to visit her.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked. Her eyes darted to and from each of Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard and Bernadette.

"We came here to support you." Bernadette said. "You obviously need someone right now."

"She is tired and will need to rest." Bernadette's father explained. "But I can allow you to stay here and talk for a few minutes. I'll be out at reception sorting out some paperwork." He explained. "I'll leave you here to talk." And he walked out.

"How are you feeling?" Bernadette asked.

"I am tired and a little distraught." Amy said. "But the doctors said I had nothing wrong with me. I only fainted because I hadn't eaten anything. I should be out of here tomorrow."

"Out of here to where?" Sheldon asked. "If what Bernadette said was correct you can't go back to your mother. I will not allow it!"

Amy swallowed. "Bernadette's father is trying to find a relative who can look after me. But he said I could stay with him as a temporary legal guardian."

"You are welcome to stay at my home." Bernadette said. "You'll just have to mind my siblings."

Amy smiled. "I've never had siblings. Should be interesting."

Sheldon suddenly interrupted. "What happened Amy? Why did your mother lock you in a closet?"

"Sheldon." Penny interrupted. "I'm sure she just explained that to the police. She probably doesn't want to re-count it again."

"No." Amy shook her head. "It is okay. I'd be content to explain to Sheldon and everyone."

"Only if it makes you comfortable." Bernadette gave a sad smile.

Amy nodded and after a few moments of thought she began to explain. "Well Leonard drove me home the other day from school so I could see Sheldon. When I arrived home my mother was yelling at me, explaining that she waited at school for an hour. I decided to just tell her the truth. I told her my friend needed some emotional support so I had one of my other friends drive me to their house. She got out of me that those two friends were male. So she grabbed me and shoved me into the sin closet. This was not unusual."

"I always thought that it was a theoretical sin closet." Sheldon said. "I never imagined you were being serious."

"No." she shook her head. "But it usually is just for an hour or so. But this time I was there all night long. The next day I needed to go to school but she didn't let me out the closet. She gave me lunch at the middle of the day and that was it."

"Poor thing." Penny said.

"The day after that I was still in the closet when I heard my mother answer the door. I knew she wasn't nearby so I used a hairclip I had to open the lock and escaped. I made it to my bedroom but the bars were still on my windows. So I just hit them really hard."

"I heard that and called my father." Bernadette said.

"Thank you." Amy said. "But my mother found me and locked me back in the closet with no food or water. I had to bang really loudly on the closet when I heard her answer the door again."

Bernadette reached over to Amy and gave her a hug. She stood back and to everyone's surprise Sheldon walked up to her.

"I'm sorry I caused all of this." he apologised. "If it weren't for me you wouldn't have gotten in trouble."

Amy wrapped her arms around Sheldon and whilst he didn't hug her back he didn't pull away.

"I know I said I would run away to college." He said. "But I can wait until you're emotionally stable and relocated safely."

"That is very thoughtful." Amy said. She let go of Sheldon.

Bernadette's father walked back into the room. "I'm sorry but your time is up. She needs to rest now."

The group of five understood now why she needed this. They all nodded in agreement and left.

#

When Leonard first went to Pasadena high school and met Amy at Penny's party he never would have imagined he would be visiting her in a hospital after such a horrible incident.

He drove Sheldon and Penny home and then drove back to his. It was now night time and he was really tired. He looked at his texts as he walked into the house.

 _Howard texted me what happened. I can't believe it!– Raj_

He should have been mad that Howard told Raj about Priya. However, he was still distracted by Amy's horrible ordeal so he ignored it.

"Where have you been?" he heard his mother ask him.

"One of my friends was in hospital." He explained. "She'll be fine."

"Is it that girl your tutoring? Or the one your dating?" she interrogated.

"Neither." He said. "Just a friend."

"Another friend?" his mother asked. "This is definitely odd. How am I even going to include this?"

After hearing what Amy's mother had done he didn't care about his own mother's antics. It was just the same old condescension.

"Good night mother." He said and walked to his bedroom. He lay on his bed and fell asleep instantly.

 **Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed. What did you think of the chapter? Please favourite and/or follow here or on tumblr(clintcooper). If you wish to leave feedback, please reviews. Thanks again.**

 **Also I apologise if what is happening isn't what you want or what you predict. I sometimes read reviews after writing and feel concerned. I hope you all like it nonetheless.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	13. The Platonic Outing

Amy carried her bags of clothes and books into Bernadette's house. She was allowed to go back to her home after being discharged from the hospital to collect any items she thought she would need. She was then driven to Bernadette's home. Amy looked around the home and saw how different it felt to her own home. There were children's drawings hung around like paintings as well as toys everywhere.

"Amy!" Bernadette said happily when she saw her enter the house. She gave Amy a hug. Amy counted to five and then pulled away.

"Thank you Bernadette." She said. "Your enthusiastic kindness has given me a sense of kinship."

"It is nothing." Bernadette re-assured. "Welcome to my home. You will be bunking in the spare room."

"Bernadette! Bernadette!" a child's voice said nearby. Amy looked and saw a child in a girl scouts uniform. "Look at me!"

"Wow! You look so adorable!" Bernadette said. Bernadette then looked at Amy. "Mary just joined the girl scouts. She has been doing fashion shows for the family in her uniform."

"Who is this?" the girl asked Bernadette.

"Oh, this is Amy." Bernadette explained. "This is my friend dad was talking about."

"Hello Mary." Amy gave an awkward wave. "I wanted to join the girl scouts when I was younger."

"Why did you not?" Mary asked.

"My mother thought walking around the streets selling cookies was being like a whore."

Bernadette gave a glare. "Amy! That is not appropriate!"

"What is a whore?" Mary asked.

"Pretend you didn't hear that." Bernadette requested to Mary. She then turned to Amy. "Now, Amy I should show you your room and get you away from any impressionable young minds."

Bernadette walked down a hallway and Amy followed. Amy noted there was a lot of bedrooms in the home but they were all small, like they had been divided. Bernadette walked into one and Amy followed.

"Here you go." Bernadette said. Amy looked around and saw it was fairly plain.

"Thank you Bernadette." She said and dropped her bags down.

"Amy, you can't say what you just said to children." She insisted. "If Mary begins talking about whores she will get in trouble. My dad is a Catholic!"

Amy looked confused. "My mother used that language to me when I was her age…"

"And what has happened with her now?" Bernadette asked rhetorically.

Amy sighed. "She is being tested for mental issues."

"Exactly." She said.

Amy sat down on the bed. "I wonder how she is doing."

"Why? You don't need to worry about her anymore." Bernadette said.

"She is still my mother. Before you and Sheldon she was the only person who would ever talk to me."

"But you don't need her now." She said.

"She didn't used to be like this." Amy said. "When she was with my dad she always happy and loving. But then he left and she began putting all the energy she used to put into her marriage into religious extremism."

Bernadette sighed. "Well maybe you should learn from that."

Amy nodded. "Okay."

#

Leonard sat at the dinner table on Monday morning eating some toast.

"Leonard!" he heard is mother say and walk into the room.

"Why haven't you left for work yet?" he asked.

"I need you to clarify some facts for me." She said.

"Are you sure?" Leonard questioned.

"Leonard I wouldn't state anything pointlessly." She said. "Now, the girl who was in hospital. What was wrong with her?"

"Her mother locked her in a closet and she was malnourished." He responded.

"No, I mean, what is wrong with her?" she asked. "Clearly she has some kind of flaw."

"Amy is a perfectly fine human being." Leonard said. "And why would you assume that?"

"That doesn't concern you." She said. "The girl you've been dating. How many times did you fail to get sex from her?"

Leonard's eyes opened wide in shock. "Mother. I am not talking to you about!"

"I know when you sprained your arm that it was a mistake in relation to sex." She said. "But I must assume there are times I don't know about…"

Leonard stood up. "I'm not talking to you about this mother." He took a last bite of toast and then walked away.

#

Leonard walked into math class. He was dreading seeing Raj after the text he received from him. However, it seemed he had arrived in class before both him and Howard so he sat down in his usual seat in the front row. He noticed Amy and Bernadette sitting in the back row. It was good to know Amy was in an emotional state where she could attend school.

Howard walked into class a few seconds later and sat next to Leonard.

"Crazy weekend, right?"

"I know you told Raj about me and Priya." Leonard said. "I am angry but I am prepared to act like I don't mind for my emotional state…"

Howard looked confused. "I never did that."

"Don't lie to me Howard." Leonard shook his head. "I received a text from Raj saying he had."

"I'm not lying." Howard defended.

"I am not one of your girl conquests." Leonard joked. "I don't need to be flattered."

"I swear! I never!"

"If it wasn't you then it must have been Priya." He said. "And given how she felt I doubt she did it herself."

"Let me see the text!" Howard demanded.

Leonard grabbed his phone and showed Howard the text. Howard gave a smile.

"I told Raj about our trip to the hospital and about what happened to Amy." He explained. "He also told me he couldn't believe it."

"I hope you aren't lying."

"I'm not." Howard insisted. The class door opened and Raj walked in. "In fact you can ask him now!"

Raj had a big smile on his face as he said down next to Howard.

"Good morning to you both." He said.

"Why are you in a good mood?" Howard asked.

"I feel relaxed after the weekend." He explained. "The hotel suite was incredible. I felt like I was in Gossip Girl!"

"So, nothing happened to upset you?" Leonard asked.

Raj leant in to whisper. "If you're asking about how I felt about Amy then of course it was disturbing. But I forgot about it once I had some sleep in that luxurious hotel bed."

Leonard looked from Howard and then Raj and then Howard again. He didn't think they were trying to trick him. At least he couldn't think of a reason why they would do that.

#

"I really want to see The Lego Batman movie!" Raj told Howard and Leonard as they sat at their usual lunch table.

"Don't expect it to be as good as the first Lego Movie." Howard said. "You always hype these things up and I'm the one who ends up disappointed."

Leonard was only half-listening to their conversation. He was happy that Raj wasn't angry at him. But there had been a part of him that was relieved Raj finally knew. He began to wonder if Priya would ever want to tell anyone about them. And what would that mean for their long-term prospects?

Leonard's thoughts were interrupted by a large amount of chanting and cheering suddenly beginning at the cafeteria.

"What is happening?" Leonard asked.

"I'm not sure." Howard said. The three turned and saw that the football team, which included Kurt and Michael, had just walked in. They had their arms in the air and big smiles on their face. Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Michael was boasting about this." Leonard explained. "Their team won against the school rivals."

"Damn those team uniforms look good." Raj commented.

Penny walked up to Kurt and kissed him. This gained even more cheers from the cafeteria.

"I guess they made up." Howard saw this. "I wonder if they had sex like Penny said."

Leonard cringed. "I'd prefer not to wonder that."

"Are there any girls who want to give me their number?" Michael shouted into the crowd. Some freshmen females squealed eagerly in response.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Can we please leave? I already see enough adulation for my brother when I'm around my mother."

"Sure, but let's not use the main exit. I don't want to beaten up because I don't look supportive of the football team." Raj said.

The three grabbed their lunches and left the cafeteria as quickly as they could.

#

After finishing their lunches, the three headed to the library where they hoped to find a spare table. They saw Bernadette and Amy sitting down at one of the tables and both were doing homework.

"We should sit on that table." Howard pointed to Bernadette.

"They look busy." Leonard noticed.

"If we sit there I won't be able to talk!" Raj complained.

"A positive a didn't see before!" Howard said mockingly. Raj rolled his eyes.

Howard ignored the two walked towards them. Leonard and Raj followed reluctantly. The three grabbed a chair and sat down.

"Hello." Howard greeted.

Bernadette looked up at them. "The Three Stooges have arrived!" she said with sarcasm.

"Who are the Three Stooges?" Amy asked.

Bernadette looked at Amy with disdain. "That one has to be a joke!"

Amy shook her head. "I guess it is another thing we'll add to the list."

"What list?" Leonard asked.

"It turns out due to Amy's upbringing that she has missed out on a lot of pop culture." Bernadette said. "Every time I reference something she hasn't seen, I add it to the list."

"It turns out Lady Gaga isn't a porn star like my mother told me." Amy said. "What do you think Raj? Do you like Lady Gaga?"

Raj looked at two girls and then stood up. He then walked away to a shelf of books.

"That was odd behaviour." Amy said.

"He can't talk to girls he could have sex with." Howard explained.

"Amy! Amy!" someone walked excitedly into the school library. The group saw it was Sheldon. A librarian gave a disapproving look of his loudness in the library but knew better than to begin an argument with Sheldon.

"Hello Sheldon." Amy said. "I haven't you seen you today."

"I have some good news!" he said. "I know you're feeling down because your crazy mother abused you so…"

"Sheldon!" Bernadette exclaimed. "Don't be rude!"

"How am I being rude?" Sheldon asked.

"How was he being rude?" Amy questioned too. Bernadette sighed and didn't respond.

"Anyways, to cheer you up I got you the tickets for the 'Science of the Brain' presentation at Caltech tonight." Sheldon explained. "I remember you mentioned it as a possibly for our next platonic outing and I spent all morning trying to find last minute tickets!"

Amy looked surprised. "Oh my gosh!" she said. "I remember that! The best and brightest of Caltech's neurobiology and psychology departments!"

"I knew you'd be excited." He said.

"Thank you Sheldon." She smiled. "I can't wait!"

#

"Where are mother and father?" Leonard asked Michael when he arrived home. He was surprised he was home before he was.

"Excuse me!" Michael snapped "I'm on the phone!" Leonard noticed the mobile device in his hand.

"Is it one of those fangirls from school?" Leonard questioned.

"I'm not answering any of your questions!" Michael told him. "I'm sorry Patricia. The housekeeper's son is really annoying."

Leonard rolled his eyes and walked away from Michael. It was clear he wasn't going to get any answers from him. He lay on his bed and looked at his phone. He remembered he had yet to adhere to Penny's advice about Priya. He needed to ring her to apologise and then invite her to a Valentine's Date. It was still about a week until the special day but it would keep her invested in the relationship for a little longer. He dialled her number.

"Hello." Priya said.

"Hey, it's Leonard." He responded.

"I know." she giggled. "You're in my contacts."

"Right."

"Okay." Priya continued. "How are you?"

"Fine mostly." He said. "I just wanted to apologise."

"For what?" Priya asked.

"For what happened when I was at your house." He said.

"That wasn't your fault." She said. "That was Howard's fault."

"Not for what Howard did." Leonard clarified. "I should have seen how upset you were and taken your side. I don't want your family to know if you don't."

"Oh."

"To be honest I don't care when your family finds out." He continued.

"Are you being honest?"

"Of course." He clarified. "I was quite flustered and wasn't thinking logically. Or maybe I was thinking too logically. I do that."

Priya laughed. "I can tell. Although your logic is often flawed. Remember the contacts incident?"

Leonard laughed back. "I think I'll remember that embarrassment for a very long time." He said. "And now that I'm talking to you, I just wanted to make sure you were available for plans on Valentine's Day."

"I am free that day." Priya said. "Have you got something special planned?"

Leonard had not planned anything so he decided to cover it with mystery. "I am not explaining anymore. Don't want to ruin it."

"I look forward to it." Priya stated. "So what have you been up to?"

"Well I haven't told you about what happened after I left your home." He began to explain. "When I ended up at the hospital…"

#

Amy and Sheldon walked into the lecture theatre that was hosting the 'Science of the brain' talk and sat down. Amy was wearing a nice but old-fashioned dress and Sheldon was wearing his stereotypical Flash shirt.

"You know I hate inane chit-chat." Sheldon began to talk. "But I am curious about your relocation. Has anyone found a relative for you to stay with?"

Amy shook her head. "They looked on my mother's side but both of my grandparents are dead and she has no siblings."

"So you'll just stay with Bernadette?"

"I can't stay there forever." Amy admitted. "I guess they'll try look for my father and his relatives."

"You could always stay with us." Sheldon said. "My mother is quite courteous."

"That is a nice offer Sheldon." Amy said and put her hand on his shoulder. Sheldon gave a sudden terrified look.

"What are you attempting?"

"I'm clearly being thankful." Amy explained.

"Well don't." Sheldon said. "I do hope any niceties I've attempted due to your vulnerable state have not come across as romantic."

Amy shook her head immediately and retracted her arm. "I do not think that way. I apologise if I have made you feel uncomfortable."

"Your apology has been noted." Sheldon said.

Amy thought back to a conversation Bernadette and her had when she was getting ready.

 _Amy twirled her dress whilst looking at her dress in the mirror. It was the best dress she had but she was very sure it was still older than she was. Bernadette walked up to the bathroom door and saw Amy look at herself._

" _Is this a date?" she asked Amy._

" _A platonic outing." Amy reminded. "I'm just excited for this prestigious event."_

" _Is it prestigious because it is at Caltech or because Sheldon will be with you?" Bernadette said with a sly smile._

" _I know what you're implying." Amy said. "And Sheldon and I don't see each other in that way."_

" _Amy, you're mother isn't around anymore to tell you that boys are the devils of the Earth." Bernadette responded. "I know you like Sheldon and he likes you."_

" _Of course we like each other. But we see no reason to have coitus and give each other meaningless presents every February 14_ _th_ _to prove it." Amy explained. "We have a friendly relationship of the mind and nothing else."_

" _And Sheldon Cooper bought you last minute tickets to a highly prestigious event that you really wanted to go to." she explained with insinuation. "I've seen Sheldon. He does nothing for no one without some sort of logical positive consequence."_

 _Amy gave Bernadette a thoughtful look. "Do you really think so?"_

" _I do think that. I saw how excited he was to tell you that he had gotten those tickets." Bernadette told her._

 _Amy thought for a second and shook her head. "No. He was going to run away and leave me here. This isn't logical at all."_

" _Do you want some make-up?" she asked. "You never know how good you'll need to look."_

" _No I don't bother with make-up." Amy said. "My mother never let me have it."_

" _I think I have some lipstick that would complement your skin." Bernadette continued._

 _Amy thought once again. "Okay. Just because I want to try out something new without my mother around. Not because of Sheldon."_

 _Bernadette gave a giggle. "Right. Not because of Sheldon." She said whilst doing air-quotes with her hands._

"Amy it is starting!" Sheldon exclaimed excitedly and Amy stopped thinking. She saw five scientists sit up the front of the room. They had sat at a long table with names in front of them.

"Dr. Beverly Hofstadter?" Amy questioned. "That can't be…"

"That is Leonard Hofstadter's mother." Sheldon said. "I've read her entire bibliography. But I've never seen her speak in person."

"Are her books good?" Amy asked.

"Oh they are very well written but I can't agree with everything in them." Sheldon said. "However I was surprised a woman as brilliant as that could produce an offspring such as Leonard."

#

Sheldon and Amy had sat through four talks. Three neurobiologists and one psychologist had talked about their research and how it would improve science and the world. Amy was enamoured by this and was taking mental notes of everything they had said. Ever since she was a small child she had wanted to pursue a career in the sciences and since then she had narrowed down her particular interest to the brain.

The last scientist to speak was Beverly Hofstadter. She took the microphone from the previous speaker and began to talk.

"Good evening everyone." She greeted. "I assume from your interest in this talk that you are thoughtful and logical human beings with an interest in the sciences. And for that I have a small amount of faith in the human race."

"That describes me!" Sheldon said to himself.

"I've been studying the development of the brain from birth to adulthood ever since I became pregnant with my first child." She continued. "Ever since I've tracked a large amount of their lives and how my children and some of my colleague's children have reacted to different parenting techniques."

Amy listened to this and couldn't help think of the events of the past week. Of how her own mother had treated her.

"I believe that my books, all available on Amazon, will help fields like psychiatry to offer better advice to parents and even intelligent parents who purchase a copy." She continued. "And I believe seeing what my children have become has helped me even."

Amy ,without thinking, put her hand in the air. Sheldon looked at her with confusion.

"No questions until the end…"

"No let the girl speak." Beverly interrupted. "What would you like to say?"

"My mother recently locked me in a closet because she thought I was sinning too much." Amy began. "But what if she was doing it for science?"

"Oh, I see you don't agree with my methods."

"I don't know enough about your methods." Amy continued. "But if you were tracking their development from birth then you must be doing it without consent…"

"Girl!" Beverly interrupted. "This isn't a time to argue ethics. You're acting upon your recent trauma. I've seen this before. But I do admire your eagerness to question."

"I didn't mean to antagonise you." Amy said. "I just wanted to see what you would say."

"That is fair." She said. "But to continue my speech, I do have a pleasurable announcement. Over the past few weeks I've been collating a large collection of research and evidence and I am announcing a new book to come out in a few months."

Some people in the room gasped.

"It will be on pre-order on the university's website and on Amazon…"

"What? Why did you not tell me about this?" A man in the front row exclaimed. Everyone in the room turned to him.

"I don't need to tell you of my work, Alfred." Beverly said back calmly.

"You do when it involves my children." He rebutted. "You said your last book was your _last_ book."

"Wait!" Amy spoke up. "Are you saying you, the father, agree with me?"

Beverly gave a glare. "I'd appreciate not being interrupted."

"You said you wouldn't have to do this anymore when you got the job at Caltech!" Alfred said back.

"We need to do this elsewhere." Beverly said. "Thank you for listening." She put the microphone and walked out the room. Alfred followed. The room was silent.

"I'm impressed by you Amy." Sheldon said.

"Really?" she felt herself blushing.

"Typically most people are too shy or afraid to challenge the speakers." He said. "Typically I'm the one who has to do it." Amy smiled when she heard him say this.

#

"So Raj didn't suspect anything?" Leonard continued his phone call with Priya.

"I asked two questions about Howard and he said nothing." She said. "I didn't want to look suspicious."

Leonard heard a door slam. "I think my parents are home. I should really look like I haven't been talking on the phone for hours."

The two said their goodbyes and he hung up.

"Why didn't you talk to me about it before you announced it at a very public lecture!" Leonard heard his father shout.

"It is my work! I don't need you dictating my job!" Leonard's mother said loudly.

"I wouldn't care what your job is if it didn't affect my children!" he argued. "Even that teenage girl in the audience knew better than you!"

" _My_ children! You mean _our_ children!" she rebutted.

"I just know how this announcement is going to affect Leonard's emotional state!" Alfred said. "He has made so much social progress at his new school and you're going to make his life bad again! Do you even remember what the kids in New Jersey did with your books?"

"Leonard won't care!" she argued. "He even helped me check some of the facts for me."

"He wouldn't!"

"He did!"

"Leonard!" They both shouted.

Leonard did not want to interfere with their fight as it seemed to be one of their biggest. He didn't respond but it was in vain. He heard two sets of angry footsteps walk towards his room and opened the door.

"I am not participating in your argument." Leonard said bluntly. "Do we really want world war three to begin?" he joked.

"Did you really help your mother fact check for her new book?"

"New book? What new book?" Leonard asked.

"My new book about development that I announced tonight." She elaborated.

"I never…. Oh wait. This morning when you were asking those random questions." He realised. "I did not know they were for a book!"

"Your mother announced her new book about you and Michael during a lecture."

"Was it that 'Science of the brain' thing?" Leonard asked. "Two of my friends were in attendance. They must have enjoyed the drama…."

Beverly thought for a second. "It is adding up in my head that the girl who questioned my methods is your friend who was locked in the closet and was in hospital. I can't believe I'm admitting this but I'm impressed you found a friend with so much scientific vigour…"

"Beverly!" Alfred said. "Why must we do this again? When I was busy with my job I couldn't see what you were doing properly. But now I've seen the damage you've done! I won't let you do this!"

"You can't!"

"If you're not backing down then… then… I can't be with you right now!" Alfred turned and walked away. The front door of the home slammed.

Beverly shook her head. "He is such a drama queen."

 **Thanks for reading. So much development here. Sheldon and Amy are getting closer, Leonard and Priya make up and Leonard's parents are angry at each other.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I begin my new college semester this week so my updates will be less frequent from now on. Please review if you wish to leave feedback. We made it to 100 reviews after 12 chapters which is exciting! And please favourite and follow here or on tumblr(clintcooper). Thank you all again.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	14. The Valentine's Day Introduction

"Is this correct?" Penny asked after completing a math's question. She and Leonard were sitting in her bedroom during a tutoring session. Leonard looked at the answer.

"The answer is 5/2. Not the number you got" Leonard corrected.

"Oh no!" Penny said. "I thought I did it right."

"Let me see your working." Leonard said. He looked at the several lines worth of maths and looked for a mistake.

"Oh!" Leonard said when he saw the mistake.

"Oh, what?" Penny asked. "What is my mistake?"

"Penny, what is 4 times 2?" Leonard asked.

"Umm… eight." She said after thinking.

"Well you seemed to think it was 6." He informed. Penny saw this and sighed.

"In my mind I must've added 4 and 2." She said. "Damn, how stupid do I feel now."

"It is good that your method is correct." Leonard said. "That is what the teacher will give the most marks on."

"I know." she said but still looked defeated.

"Speaking of marks, did you get your science test back?" Leonard asked. Penny had a science test on physics the week before and had spent a lot of time with Leonard making sure she knew everything.

"No." she said. "We're getting the grade tomorrow. Just what I need on Valentine's Day, right?"

"It should be a good result." Leonard re-assured "You seemed to know most of it when we were studying."

"I know! But I feel like I messed up one of the questions!" She said. She visibly wanted to change the topic so she went with the first thing that came to mind. "Hey, I should show you what I bought Kurt for Valentine's Day."

"Seriously? Me?" Leonard questioned.

"Look at this." Penny grabbed a football and showed it to him.

"Is this good?" Leonard asked.

"Of course. It is a special kind. Cost me an afternoon's pay from work." She explained.

Leonard shrugged. "I guess this is a fine present. Not an area that I'm knowledgeable in to trust though…"

"What about you? Did you follow all my advice and plans for Priya?" she asked.

Leonard nodded. "Everything is already. I just have to drive her to the restaurant tomorrow evening."

"If I were on a date with a guy who planned this I wouldn't even bother waiting to have sex." Penny said. "We'd be doing it right on the salad bar."

Leonard gave a disgusted expression. "Not where I was heading with this date." He said. "And I don't think it is that good."

"Okay it isn't _that_ good" Penny said. "But if she hasn't done anything sexual before dessert then I'd be surprised."

#

 _Valentine's Day_

"Is Alfred Hofstadter here?" Leonard asked.

The woman at reception shook her head. "He isn't in. Would you like me to inform him of something once he arrives?"

Leonard shook his head "I'd like to see him. I'm his son." Leonard showed his school ID card which had his last name on it. Talking to a receptionist in an office building was something he wasn't very familiar with doing. It felt more adult than expected.

The woman nodded. "Okay. Wait over on those seats." She pointed to a waiting area. "I'll tell him when you arrive."

Leonard sat and waited for a long time. He kept noticing the receptionist glancing over to him, to see if he was still there.

"Hello Patricia." Leonard heard a familiar voice say. He looked and saw his father walking in.

"Hello Alfred." She responded. "There is someone here to see you." She gestured over to where Leonard was sitting. Alfred turned and saw him. He gave a confused look and walked over.

"Leonard? What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you." He explained. "It has been a week since you stormed out of the house and I haven't seen you…"

"We can continue talking in my office." He interrupted. "Follow me."

Leonard walked with his father to his office. He had never seen this place of work but he knew it was smaller than his workplace in New Jersey. He had taken whatever job he could find as Leonard's mother's saw her career, and job at Caltech, to be more important. The two walked in and Alfred shut the door.

"You should be at school." He said to Leonard. "Won't you be late?"

Leonard shrugged. "I hoped you would call the school and tell them I will be late. You know, given the circumstances."

Alfred didn't argue. "I'll do that. But what did you want to talk to me about."

Leonard felt a twinge of awkwardness. He never had to talk to his father this way before. "Well you've been gone for a week and I was wondering when you were returning. I hope that you are going to be returning. Right?"

Alfred sighed. "I'm sorry Leonard." He apologised. "I've tried with my relationship but nothing works. The book is the 'deal-breaker'. I will not be returning to Beverly until she stops it."

"Well… Mother won't stop the book." Leonard said bluntly. "But… we still want you around."

Alfred took a deep breath. "You've never gone through a relationship fading over time. Not yet anyways." He said. "I can't expect you to understand this but I can't stand by happily as your mother spills family embarrassments and lies."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Leonard asked. "Can you do something legally? We are your children and don't want…"

Alfred put his hands to his head and looked defeated. "When I was younger I signed something saying she could do it. I'm sorry Leonard. I can't stand myself when I think about it. I was a busy young scientist who only saw the logic in it. I wasn't a father yet."

Leonard saw his disappointment with himself and decided to change the topic to avoid any awkwardness. "But it is Valentine's Day! You can't be alone today!" he said. "Even _I_ have a date."

Alfred's eyes opened in realisation. "I completely forgot! That is sad…" he admitted. "Did you know that your mother and I had our first date on Valentine's Day?"

Leonard shook his head. "That doesn't sound like mother…"

"That is because I suggested it." He said. "She went along with it."

Leonard couldn't help but give a small laugh. "That makes sense."

"Leonard, I know you came here to convince me to come back but…" Alfred paused to think. "But I just can't. I can't be with her whilst she does this. It is taking a stand."

"But do you have to take a stand without me or Michael?" Leonard questioned.

"You are right Leonard." He said. "Usually when this happens I'm not away for long. I guess I was stuck in a routine. I promise to keep in contact with you."

Leonard gave a small smile. "Great."

"I think you should head off to school as I have a meeting soon." He said whilst and glanced at his watch. "I am staying at room 3a of the same hotel you sprained your arm in. Do you remember that?"

"I do." Leonard nodded. His cast was about a week away from being taken off.

"I'll call the school and you can go." He said. "Do you have a lift?"

"I drove myself."

"Oh, and good luck on your date tonight." He said "You must have something planned."

"I do have something planned." He said. "But I just need everything to according to plan."

#

"Oh, Leonard won't want to go."

"Why not?"

"Umm… well…." Howard tried to think of a reason. Leonard noticed the two talking about something as he walked into school but decided he needed to get to his locker first.

"Oh, there he is now." Raj saw him. "I'll go and ask him." He and Howard walked up to Leonard.

"Hey Raj. Hey Howard." Leonard greeted. He was mildly annoyed his walk had been interrupted but didn't show it.

"Why are you strolling into school now?" Raj asked. "It is morning break."

"I had to do something important." He explained. "Long story. Anyways why do I have the honour of your presence." He said with sarcasm.

"I am planning a singles gathering for tonight as it is Valentine's Day." Raj explained. "And as far as I know both you and Howard are single."

"I'll be attending but I definitely understand if you don't." Howard said, hinting at Leonard having a girlfriend.

"I'm sorry but I have to help my father tonight." Leonard lied. He had come up with a lie in case Raj asked about his plans. "He and my mother are living separately right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry dude." Raj said. "If you need anyone to help…"

"It is okay." Leonard interrupted before the lie could become anything more.

"Anyways, who else do you think is single?" Raj asked. "I asked some of the other people in our advanced class. And some people I know from temple and the comic book store."

"Sheldon Cooper." Leonard said.

"If you think I would invite Sheldon to a social gathering, think again." Raj said. "And he isn't single. He has Amy."

Leonard shook his head. "Not for the party. I mean, Sheldon Cooper is walking towards us right now."

The three turned and saw Sheldon walk up to the group. "My Vulcan hearing heard something about inviting me to a social situation. Is this true?"

"Well in fact it is but it was for not…."

"What social gathering? Comic-con?" Sheldon asked.

"Raj and I are having a singles party tonight for Valentine's Day." He explained.

"Oh the word party makes my brain cry." Sheldon said.

"It is more of a social gathering then a party." Howard said. "Everyone who would like a party would have a Valentine's date." He joked.

"Oh. In that case can I bring Amy?" Sheldon asked. "I believe given her recent trauma she needs a small amount of social interaction. I'd like to think myself tolerant of her situation even if I have to endure social anxieties with her."

"Did you hear the theme of the event?" Raj asked rhetorically. "Single's party!"

"Oh, I did. As I said before I have Vulcan hearing." He explained. "And we both fit the criteria. Neither of us are romantically involved with someone."

"So is Sheldon invited then?" Leonard couldn't help but smirk. Howard and Raj gave an awkward look at each other.

"I guess if Sheldon really wants to endure our social gathering then, yes, he is invited." Raj said but sounded like he didn't want to. "It is at Howard's house. 7pm start."

Sheldon nodded. "Okay then." He said. "But to tangent to the reason I came up to you, Leonard, Gablehauser said you weren't in science class this morning and he wanted to speak to you. He said if I saw you, to tell you to see him."

"Why?" Leonard asked.

"I didn't care enough to ask." Sheldon said. "I'll walk away now. Good day to you all." He then walked away from the three.

"Great. Our party will suck." Raj complained.

"It is a singles party. It was gonna suck anyway." Howard rebutted. "And now we can blame it on Sheldon." He gave a small laugh.

#

After going to his locker Leonard went to Gablehauser's classroom where he resided. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." he heard Gablehauser say. He opened the door and saw Gablehauser at his desk. "Hello Leonard."

Leonard walked up to the desk Gablehauser was at.

"You wanted to see me?" Leonard said like it was a question.

"Look at this." Gablehauser handed him several pieces of paper stapled together. It was a science test and had Penny's name on it.

"Why am I looking at this?" Leonard asked.

"Look at the grade."

"I think this Penny's business." Leonard said awkwardly.

"This is important, Leonard." He said.

Leonard sighed and looked. It had an 'A' on it.

"Penny got an A!" he exclaimed. "Wow!"

"You look surprised." He said. "If she didn't mess up the last question it would have been an A+"

"So what am I doing here?" Leonard asked.

"She told me you were tutoring her." He explained. "And her grades have dramatically improved since then."

"She has worked really hard since I started tutoring her." Leonard explained.

"I just wonder if you took a page from Sheldon's book and helped her a little too much." Gablehauser hinted at something.

Leonard shook his head. "She didn't cheat! I would never help someone cheat!"

"It is just that I've never seen grades from Penny like this." he said. "So I apologise if I have interrogated you. I just wanted to make sure nothing crafty was going on."

"Oh, nothing like that." Leonard insisted.

"Thank you Leonard." He said. "And hopefully you will be in the next science class."

"You should. I just wasn't there this morning as I had a family commitment." He said, not wanting to explain that he went to visit his father who left due to a disagreement with his mother.

#

Amy saw that Bernadette's bedroom door was opened. She walked up to it and knocked. Bernadette was at her desk, writing down something for her homework. She turned and saw Amy.

"Hello Amy." She said.

"Can I borrow that lipstick again?" Amy asked, referring to the lipstick she used when she and Sheldon went to the 'Science Of The Brain' talk at Caltech.

"So you liked make-up?" Bernadette said with a sly smile.

"I'm undecided about my opinions on make-up." She said "So I'm going to try it again."

"Then maybe you should try some blush or eye shadow." Bernadette said. "I have a lot of stuff I use for special occasions."

"No thank you." She shook her head. "The lipstick will be enough."

Bernadette nodded and stood up. She walked over to her make-up supplies which were on a nearby shelf and grabbed the lipstick. She handed it to Amy.

"So what are you and Sheldon doing tonight?" she asked.

Amy looked surprised. "I never mentioned Sheldon and I doing anything."

"I just assumed." She explained. "It only made sense that you wanted make-up to meet up with your boyfriend."

"I wish you wouldn't call him my boyfriend." Amy said. "It is weird. We are not romantic."

"You go on dates…"

"We talk and then participate in whatever activity we planned." Amy said. "No unsanitary exchanges of bodily fluids."

"Not everyone is intimate straight away." Bernadette said. "And I doubt Sheldon would be. Doesn't mean he isn't…"

"We are going to a singles party." Amy interrupted. "Sheldon invited me to it. If he invited me to a singles party, then he must assume I am single."

Bernadette gave a thoughtful look. "A singles party? I'm single!"

"That is true." Amy said. "Sheldon told me Howard and Raj are organising it."

Bernadette rolled her eyes. "Not them."

"Maybe you should come." Amy said. "I would feel more comfortable if I had more people I liked there. I would like for you to attend."

"Really?"

"I'm not going to force you." Amy said. "But, like many people, I have an opinion."

Bernadette nodded. "I can get ready quickly. When is it?"

"I was going to leave in five minutes. I just needed the make-up." She explained. "I asked your dad to drive me."

"I'll get ready." She said. "You play with the lipstick whilst you wait."

#

"We need to leave Dad!" Bernadette shouted five minutes later. Amy was secretly impressed at how quickly she had gotten ready. To be fair, Bernadette didn't wear as many layers as her.

Bernadette's father walked to the two of them. "I need to talk to Amy in private." He said. He then handed Bernadette the car keys. "Go and get the car out of the garage."

Bernadette looked at her father curiously. "What is it?"

"Bernadette, I need to talk to Amy." Mike said sternly. Bernadette nodded and left the two.

"What do you want to talk about Mr. Rostenkowski?" Amy questioned.

"I was just on the phone with someone from the station." He explained. "He said they've contacted your father."

Amy's eyes opened in surprise. "What?"

"Your father seems to be undecided about being your guardian." He continued "But he wants to see you."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Amy questioned. "That is such a short time. I… I… I…" Amy was speechless. She hadn't seen him for many years. And the next day she was going to see him. Amy was smart but was finding it difficult to comprehend this information. Bernadette's father saw this.

"I understand if you don't want to go out anymore." He said. "I just thought you should know about this as soon as you should."

Amy gave a fake smile. "No, it is okay." She said. "And Sheldon is expecting me there. It would be tardy to bail out right now."

"You sure?" he asked again.

"Yes." Amy gave another fake smile.

"Okay. Let's go then." Bernadette's father said. The two walked out of the home but Amy was hardly concentrating on anything around her though. She could hardly believe that she would see her father the next day.

#

Leonard drove up to where he was picking Priya up for their date. It was away from her home and her work. She didn't want anyone who could tell her family anything to see. Leonard couldn't help but run the date through his head once again. Gablehauser's interrogation did make him think of how smart Penny actually was in comparison to the image she liked to put across, so surely this date that they organised together would work? And the present Penny helped him choose to?

And this would possibly be the third time he and Priya would attempt to have sex. The first time was when he lied about having contacts in and sprained his arm. The second was when her parents went away and Howard walked in on them. Valentine's Day would be the perfect date for him to lose his virginity and for him and Priya to have their first time. And people did say third time lucky. But he was also reminded of something Penny had said once during one of their earlier tutoring session.

" _Three strikes and you're out." Penny said._

" _Huh?"_

" _It is a baseball thing." She explained. "But people say it in normal chats sometimes."_

" _Oh, right." Leonard said. "Of course I know that. But why bring it up?"_

" _This is the third time I've tried to do this quadratics question." Penny said. "That is kinda sad. It would prove how bad I am at maths."_

And Penny succeeded in getting that question right on the third try. But would Leonard be as lucky on his date with Priya?

He saw Priya in a nice dress outside of the car. Leonard got out the car and made sure she saw him. She walked over and he opened the car door to let her in.

"Thank you Leonard." She said.

"No problems." Leonard gave a smile. He got back in the car.

"So where are we going. You told me to dress nice so I assume it is…"

"You look very pretty Priya." Leonard said the first thing on his mind. He heard a nervousness in his voice "Nice dress."

"Thanks." Priya sounded unsure of the situation.

"Let's go." Leonard started the car. "Let the Valentine's Day date begin."

"Okay." Priya gave a small smile but still seemed unsure.

Leonard took a deep breath. He already felt like Priya had noticed his nervousness. He just hoped he'd be able to make it through the night.

 **What do you think of this chapter? This Valentine's Day 'scenario' will be over two chapters. I know this may seem a bit 'Part 1' where I have to set-up 'Part 2' but the next chapter should have some exciting and story-changing moments that'll make it worth it. Next chapter will have the singles gathering and the LeonardxPriya date. Penny will also be in somewhere in there too but I'm not spoiling how.**

 **Thank you all for reading. My college schedule has been very busy which is why this is shorter, and maybe less well written, then the previous chapters. If you liked, please favourite and follow on here or on tumblr(clintcooper). Also review if you wish to leave any feedback or would like to make any predictions or comments about the plot. I know in a previous chapter I apologised for not going along with predictions but that was just to make sure people knew I wasn't purposely changing the plot so it would go for or against what someone reviewed. And I was never aiming that at one particular reviewer.**

 **Thank you all again.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	15. The Valentine's Day Conclusion

"Have fun girls." Bernadette's father said as he parked outside of Howard's home. "Don't get in trouble."

"It'll be fine." Bernadette reassured. "This is a single's party, remember."

Amy gave a nod so that he knew she heard him and the two girls got out of the car. Bernadette and Amy saw the car drive off and the two approached Howard's house. Bernadette gave Amy a suspicious glance.

"Why are you so quiet?" she asked Amy. "What did my father say to you?"

Amy suddenly felt defensive. "It is nothing."

"Please don't keep secrets Amy." She insisted. "We aren't Regina and Cady in Mean Girls."

"Mean Girls?"

Bernadette sighed. "I'll add it to the list." She said. "But what is wrong?"

Amy took a breath. "They found my father. I am meeting him tomorrow."

Bernadette gave an unsure look. "And what does that mean…"

"I Don't Know!" she exclaimed. When she realised this she instantly retreated. "I don't know. I'll find out tomorrow when I see him."

Bernadette nodded. "I see it is stressing you out. I won't mention it again."

Bernadette rung Howard's doorbell and Raj opened the door. He instantly gave an awkward expression and cringed.

"What is it, Raj?" Amy asked.

"He can't greet us or welcome us or anything." Bernadette explained. "Don't worry Raj. We understand."

Raj gave a small smile and gestured into the home. Amy and Bernadette walked in and saw the group of people gathered in the room. It was a small crowd of about ten people, some of which they recognised and some they did not. Most people in the party were standing awkwardly and failing at making stimulating conversation. The two were the first females to be at the party. There was some bowls of food and soda cans on a nearby table but the room was fairly lacking in buzz.

"This is not like Penny's party." Amy said.

"This is not what I was expecting." Bernadette admitted.

"Hello ladies." Howard saw them and walked up to them. "I didn't expect Bernadette to be here."

"Me neither but Amy tortured me until I agreed to come." Bernadette said with sarcasm. Howard gave a confused look.

"She is quite clearly joking. She is here because I wanted more social support." Amy explained. "Speaking of which, is Sheldon here?"

Howard shook his head. "Nope. And he is late which is surprising."

"Howard…" A person came up to Howard but stopped when he noticed the girls. He had his eyes glancing firmly down to the floor and he was playing nervously with his shirt sleeves. He was breathing fairly heavily. Amy gave a curious look.

"Hello." Bernadette greeted. "My name is Bernadette. This is Amy." She told him.

"I'm… I'm…." the guy began to breathe in and out slowly. "Excuse me…" he walked away with his head down low.

"Clear symptoms of social anxiety disorder." Amy said. "Maybe I should study social problems as I've seen many people in my life have it. Leonard. Raj. And now whoever that was."

"That is Stuart." Howard explained. "He goes to the local arts college. He works at the comic book store but has trouble with socialising. He has warmed to me and Raj though."

"Poor guy." Bernadette said.

"Well I have socialising issues too…." As Howard began saying this Bernadette gave a glare and he immediately stopped. "I mean… of course it is sad."

There was a knock on the door and Raj opened the door. Sheldon Cooper stood in front of it.

"Good evening Raj." He greeted. "I apologise for my lateness but my sister was crying about her boyfriend. Mundane stuff. My mother had to console her and made me late!"

Raj nodded but didn't say anything.

"Oh, there are girls around." Sheldon said and noticed Amy and Bernadette. He stepped into the home and walked up to Amy. "Good evening Amy. I apologise for my lateness but my sister was crying about her boyfriend. Mundane stuff. My mother had to console her and made me late!"

"I heard." Amy gave a smile. "I am happy you're here."

"I am glad you're here too." He said. "If you weren't I'd probably just leave. I see Howard was lying though. This seems like a very raging party."

Bernadette snorted in laughter and then stopped herself when Amy gave her an awkward look. Bernadette knew she might hurt Amy's feelings if she laughed at Sheldon and Amy had enough on her plate as it was.

#

Priya looked around at the restaurant she was currently sitting in. They had just told the waiter their order and now were waiting for their food. Her eyes were open with amazement as she took it all in. It was very high class with every of high quality.

"Leonard… How did you… ?" she began to ask.

"How did I get us in this restaurant?" he finished the question. "Just say I found a genie and he granted me three wishes. This was one of them." He added sarcastically.

Priya gave a laugh. "Okay Leonard. I think you've been watching too many movies."

"So how are things? Work? School? Family?" Leonard asked remembering the conversational tips Penny had given him for dating.

"Everything is the same, I guess." She said. "Nothing has changed."

"Did I tell you about my parents?" Leonard questioned.

"Yeah you texted me about how your father left after a fight." Priya said. "Did he come back?"

"I went to see him this morning." Leonard explained. "He said he wouldn't come back because of my mother still publishing her book. I feel sorry for him."

"Why?"

"He seems to be more mad about this than I am." Leonard continued. "He wants to redeem himself after many years of being oblivious to my mother."

"I'm sure it'll all work out." Priya said. "My parents argue every day and they're still together."

Leonard nodded. There was a moment of silence.

"Leonard your pocket is vibrating." Priya said. Leonard noticed his phone going off.

"I'll get it later." Leonard shrugged it off.

"At least check who it is." Priya said. Leonard took his phone out of his pocket and saw Penny was ringing him. Why would Penny be calling him? She was meant to be on a date and knew he was on one.

"Umm… my father." Leonard lied. "It can wait…"

"But your father might need emotional support." Priya said.

"Priya, this is a special night for the both of us." Leonard insisted. "I have a lot planned and no one is going to interrupt it."

Priya gave a smile. "Okay Leonard. If you think that is best."

#

"This party is uninteresting." Sheldon said.

"What do you want us to do?" Howard asked. "We have snacks. We have drinks. We have music. And we have a group of fifteen or so people awkwardly standing around."

"DID SOMEONE SAY SNACK?" they heard shouting from upstairs.

"What was that?" Amy asked.

"My mother." Howard explained. "She is meant to be at bingo tonight but it was cancelled due to lack of interest. So I asked her to stay in her room."

"That is a bit rude." Bernadette commented.

"It may seem that way but if you knew her…" Howard said. "She is my mother but most people find her disturbing." Raj nodded his head in agreement to that statement.

"Howard, to answer your question, I think we should play a physics game!" Sheldon suggested. "I invented physics mad-libs once and I still remember…"

"We are not playing physics mad-libs." Howard interrupted.

"You will regret saying that when people start to leave due to boredom…"

A phone ringtone went off to interrupt Sheldon and everyone turned to where the sound came from. It came from Bernadette.

"Excuse me." She said. She saw Penny's name on her phone and answered. "Hello."

" _Bernadette?"_

"Yeah it is me." She clarified.

Suddenly at the other end of the phone loud sobs could be heard. They were so loud that she was sure everyone standing in that quiet room could hear them.

"Penny? Are you okay?" Bernadette asked with concern.

" _Bernadette… I can't go home like this… I'm clearly distraught." She said everything through sobs._

"Distraught?" she said like it was a question.

" _Yeah Leonard used that word once…"_

"No. I meant why are you distraught?" she asked.

" _It is Kurt. Can I… Can I…. Can I go over to your place and talk about it?" she asked._

"I'm at a party right now at Howard Wolowitz's house." Bernadette explained. She was sure she could feel Penny cringing over the phone.

 _Penny sighed. "I guess I can endure him… Just text me the address." She sounded very unsure._

"Are you sure you're okay driving here, Penny?" Bernadette said with concern.

" _I am sad, not drunk." Penny clarified. "I'll see you there." Penny continued to sob as she hung up._

Bernadette texted the address and put the phone away again. When she got off the phone Bernadette noticed everyone in the room was staring at her and then looking away immediately.

"What is it?" Amy asked Bernadette.

"It looks like Penny will be joining this gathering." She told her.

"Isn't Penny in a relationship and this is a single's gathering?" Sheldon asked condescendingly.

"Sheldon, if Penny wants to attend _my_ party at _my_ house then no relationship status is going to stop her." Howard said.

Suddenly there was a loud bang on a window at the house. Because of the loud noise a lot of people jumped due to the surprise.

"What was that?" Amy asked.

"I don't know." Howard said. "I'll go check it out. You all continue to have fun."

"I'm not having fun." Sheldon grumbled but Howard left the room.

A few seconds later there was a loud shouting noise coming from where Howard went to. Everyone in the room turned immediately in that direction.

"What the…" Bernadette wondered what was happening. She immediately went to where Howard was and so did everyone at the party, except Sheldon and Amy. Bernadette saw what had happened. There was an animal lying on the ground outside and was moving its legs and arms sporadically but unable to walk. It appeared to have run into window.

"There is a dead rat outside!" Howard freaked out.

"That is a rabbit." Bernadette noticed. "Can't you see it's ears."

Howard opened his eyes in realisation. "Oh. Okay. I guess that sorts that out then. Everyone get back to partying!"

Everyone except Bernadette and Howard walked back to the party area.

"Do you have any boxes?" she asked.

"What for?" Howard asked.

"The rabbit. It is clearly still alive. Surely you weren't just going to leave it?" she asked. "Although I wouldn't be surprised"

Howard reacted immediately. "Oh. No. I was definitely going to help it."

Bernadette gave a suspicious look and suspected he was lying. "Okay. Maybe you can find a box to contain it? I can look for some food a rabbit could eat."

Howard nodded. "Okay. I'll try and find one…"

"DID SOMEONE SAY RABBIT?" everyone in the house heard the shouting of Howard's mother upstairs.

#

"How can you afford all this?" Priya asked Leonard when she walked into the hotel room he had booked.

"Let me just say this is genie wish number 2." Leonard joked.

Priya laughed. "Okay, Leonard. But seriously how?"

"Does it really matter?" Leonard asked. "It is kinda a secret."

Priya couldn't help but smile. "Oh. A bad boy."

Priya suddenly walked up to Leonard and began to kiss him. He was initially surprised by this but then decided to kiss back. He had kissed Priya several times since his first date and had noticed his skill had been getting better and better. The two continued to kiss and they went over to the hotel bed. They sat down on it as they kissed. Priya's hand began to explore Leonard's body from his chest down to his pants. She stopped her hand near one of his pants pockets. Leonard couldn't help by be aroused by it.

"Leonard." Priya stopped the kiss for a second.

"Am I doing something wrong?" Leonard questioned.

Priya shook her head. "No. Your phone is vibrating in your pocket." When she pointed it out, he noticed it.

"Damn." Leonard exclaimed. "I can just ignore it. You heard what I said at the restaurant."

Leonard and Priya continued to kiss but she pulled away.

"I'm sorry but the phone is vibrating still." She said. "It is really distracting."

"It is fine." Leonard shrugged.

Unexpectedly however Priya reached into Leonard's pocket and grabbed the phone. She then looked at who it was. She gave a confused look. Leonard assumed she saw Penny was calling.

"I can explain." He immediately defended.

"Your mother is calling." She told him.

"Oh." Leonard was now confused. "I guess she also needs emotional support."

Priya handed him the phone. "Answer it and then turn it off. Then we can have some fun." She said. "I'm going to show you what you couldn't see when you didn't have the contacts in."

Leonard remembered she was wearing some special underwear for the occasion but also that she looked a blurry blob. He sighed and answered the phone.

"What do you want mother?" Leonard answered.

" _Hello Leonard." She said with annoyance. "I know you're trying, and probably failing, to have sex with that girlfriend of yours given it is Valentine's Day but I spoke to your father today."_

"So did I." Leonard informed.

" _I know." she said. "I can't believe that you are taking his side in all things. I gave birth to you. Do you know how much effort it takes to get someone out your vagina?"_

Leonard immediately cringed. "I am unfamiliar with the feeling." He said. "And what do you mean taking sides? I just went to talk to him."

" _I know you like him more Leonard because he is easy on you." She said._

Leonard sighed. "Firstly, I don't know why you care what side I'm on." He began. "And secondly, taking sides? What are we? Twelve? Do I really have to me the mature one here who doesn't get angry at either of you even though he leaves and doesn't contact me and you write that book…"

" _Leonard stop with this temper tantrum." his mother parented. "I just think it is time our family has a long talk..."_

"I have a date to get to mother." He interrupted. "Goodbye."

He hung up. He just couldn't stand to talk to her. It had been that way the entire week his father had been gone. He tried to tell himself not too angry. That it was their parent's problem. But he couldn't help his feelings. He turned his phone so she couldn't call him again.

"I see you're done." Priya said. Leonard turned and saw she was wearing the lingerie. And he could see her in it fully now. "Your face is stern, Leonard."

Leonard shook his head. "That is because I just talked to my mother. But now…" Leonard thought of what to say "I think I know a way to cheer me up."

Priya gave a smile. And the two started kissing passionately.

#

Sheldon and Amy were standing in Howard's party and not talking. They were standing in silence.

"I'm sorry I'm so quiet." Amy said. "I'm doing a lot of thinking tonight."

"No need to apologise." Sheldon said. "I was actually enjoying the silence."

"Sheldon, I feel like I need to mention something especially due to you not running away for me." She said.

"Oh, don't feel obligated." Sheldon insisted.

"Bernadette's father told me my father has been contacted." She told him. She began to feel a combination of nervous and upset. "And I am meeting him tomorrow."

Sheldon inspected her face. "And you're ecstatic. I can tell!"

Amy shook her head. "No! I am not ecstatic!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen him in years. And he might live in a different state. Heck, a different country for all I know."

Sheldon gave a confused look. "If you're not ecstatic, then what are you feeling. I can't tell right now Amy." He said. "I deeply apologise but I've never been good at this. I am struggling."

Amy gave a confused look. "You're struggling? You admit that?"

Sheldon gave a look like a guilty child would. "I never said that. I want to know how you're feeling. That is it."

"I am feeling nervous at meeting him." She explained. "And a little sad that I might need to leave you and Bernadette here. You two are the first friends I've made."

"With the Internet, communication all over the world is possible" Sheldon stated fact.

Amy shook her head. "You just don't get it."

Sheldon shrugged. "I feel like I do get it…"

There was a knock on the door. Everyone in the room stared at each other as if to ask each other who was going to open it. Raj walked over to the door and opened. Standing in the doorway was Penny with a short black dress on and smeared make-up on her face from crying. Confused faces filled the room. Raj gestured into the room and she walked in. All eyes were on her.

"Where is Bernadette?" Penny asked the room. No one spoke up.

"I believe she is making a rabbit habitat with Howard." Amy said.

"How long does that take?" Penny asked.

Amy shrugged. No one else said anything. She sighed.

"I guess I should've expected this." Penny said. "Is there any alcohol here?"

"No. Only beverage is diet coke." Sheldon pointed to the table with the food and drinks. Penny gave a disgusted stare.

"Can you explain why you are here." Amy said. "Bernadette didn't say why."

"I don't feel comfortable telling everyone…"

"And we should respect that." Sheldon agreed, not wanting to hear her explanation.

"I want to hear…. What you have to say" Stuart actually spoke up.

"Really?" Penny asked

"I think you should." Another person in the room spoke up.

"Yeah, tell us!" another agreed.

Penny couldn't help but smile. Were these people caring?

"Okay." She began. "I was on a date with my boyfriend Kurt and I told him about how I got an A in my physics test. He began to say I only got it because I was spending time with another guy, which in this case was Leonard. But I'd never cheat on Kurt. I may have lost my temper and asked him to hand me his phone to see if he was cheating and he refused. I snatched it from him really quickly and… well…" Tears began to flood down her face.

"It is okay." Stuart spoke up. "Kurt… umm… isn't good enough for you."

"He sounds like a jerk." Someone else said.

"Thanks guys. You're right… He had Tinder and was messaging all these girls for hook-ups." She explained. "I can't believe it. We've been together long-term and now he does this!"

"I don't know how she didn't see this coming." Sheldon spoke up.

Both Amy and Penny gave a glare. Sheldon shrugged and didn't retract his statement.

"Are you and Kurt still together?" Amy asked curiously.

Penny sighed and shook her head. "No. Not anymore." Then a tear fell down her face. She was sad. But was it about Kurt entirely?

#

"Isn't that cute?" Bernadette said as she looked at the rabbit in the habitat. Howard had found a box and put some straw along the bottom. Bernadotte had put some vegetables and water into the box. And surprisingly Howard didn't say anything sexual whilst helping.

"Yeah." Howard agreed. "How do you think it caused that large banging sound on the window?"

"I don't know." Bernadette shrugged. She then looked at the rabbit. "I think it has a bruise or something. But nothing serious."

"I think we should take it to the vet tomorrow." Howard said. "Who knows if it is blind or something."

Bernadette and Howard stared into the box as the rabbit chomped on some carrots. It already looked a little better.

"We should name it." Howard said.

Bernadette thought for a second. "What about Valentino." She suggested. "Since it is Valentine's Day."

Howard gave a look of derision. "Nice. A classic rabbit name. Peter Rabbit, Roger Rabbit. Valentino Wolowitz."

"Why isn't the rabbit a Rostenkowski?"

Howard gave a small laugh and looked at the rabbit. "Look at all that chest hair and overbite. Of course you're a Wolowitz."

Bernadette couldn't help but smile. She had never seen Howard like this before. Probably because he wasn't trying to pick her up.

"Bernadette!" she heard. She turned and saw Penny walk in the room.

"Hello Penny." Bernadette greeted. "Come meet Valentino!"

"Wow, that rabbit is a cutie!" Penny comment.

"Not the only thing in here that is a cutie!" Howard gave a sleazy smile.

Bernadette rolled her eyes. Did he seriously just revert back to sleazy Wolowitz when Penny walked in.

"Come on, Penny." She said. "Let's go to another room and you can tell me why you're here."

The two left the room, leaving Howard and Valentino alone together.

#

Leonard and Priya lay unclothed in bed feeling the awkwardness. Leonard went through the entire incident in his head over and over.

"I'm sorry Priya." He apologised.

"It is okay, Leonard." She said but didn't sound sincere.

"I didn't mean for it to happen this way." He apologised. "I really wanted us to go all the way."

"Stop fixating, Leonard." Priya demanded. She then got out of the bed. "I need to get home. I'll see you later."

She walked leaving Leonard alone. He couldn't believe what happened just happened. Embarrassment seeped through his entire body at that moment.

He heard Priya close the door to the hotel room and he instantly grabbed his phone. He saw the missed call from Penny and the several missed calls from his mother. He dialled Penny.

But she didn't pick-up. He guessed he would just have to find out why she called him the next day. And he wondered if he'd be able to tell her how he and Priya didn't end up having sex. At least in the conventional sense.

 **Thank you all for reading. What did you think? Once again I've had a busy college schedule so this chapter may not be as well-written or well-edited as some others but I do feel like I wrote the characters right. Next chapter you will have to wait and find out what happened with Leonard and Priya, see the aftermath of Penny's breakup and maybe Amy meeting her father.**

 **If you wish to get updates please favourite or follow on here or on Tumblr(clintcooper). Please review if you wish to leave feedback. I always appreciate a review. Thank you again.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	16. The Rumour Equation

Leonard walked into school the day after Valentine's Day in a mirage of tiredness. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night due to him over thinking what had happened with Priya. Why did he ever think he was ready to have sex with her?

As he walked into school he began to notice a few people look at him suspiciously. He decided to ignore it thinking it was just the usual nerd-loathing. He walked to his locker and began putting his books away and getting his books for class. Everyone who walked by was giving him odd looks. However, the only people who stopped to talk to him were Howard and Raj.

"Good morning Leonard." Howard greeted.

"Hey Howard and Raj." Leonard said back. "How was the thing you had?"

"The thing being the super awesome party?" Raj questioned.

"Yeah."

"It was really fun." Raj said.

"Only kind of." Howard interrupted. "It was boring at times but Bernadette and I rescued a hurt bunny which helped pass time and Penny showed up."

"Penny?" Leonard gave a confused look. "Why? She was on a date with Kurt…"

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Raj questioned. "Penny and Kurt broke up and she told us that it was because he was being a whore on Tindr!"

Leonard should have been surprised by this break up. But seeing that it was Kurt, a bullying cheat, he guessed it would never end well. "Oh, well that is interesting." He reacted. "I guess that'll leave more time for tutoring and improving her academics."

"Only you, Leonard, would see this as a GPA improving opportunity." Howard said sarcastically.

A cheerleader friend of Penny's gave Leonard, Raj and Howard a disgusted look as she walked by them.

"Why is everyone doing that?" Leonard asked. Howard and Raj shrugged. Leonard then wondered if they had found out about his night with Priya. But how? Priya wouldn't tell anyone since she wanted their relationship to be secret. He must've been being paranoid.

"Don't people usually do that to us?" Raj asked.

"Sometimes but I've been getting that from everyone when I walked in." Leonard said. "Except you two of course."

The school bell rang to signify the beginning of the school day. Leonard closed his locker door and the three walked to their home-group class for roll call.

#

"Wow Penny your speed is exceptional today." The gym coach said to Penny. "You've achieved your personal best in several races."

"Thanks." She couldn't help but smile. "I had some steam to let off today."

"You and the other people who have finished their races can take a break. Go get a drink or something."

Penny grabbed her water bottle and sat down on a nearby bench. Some of her cheerleader friends who had also finished walked up to her, including Christy.

"Hello." Penny greeted.

"How could you do that to Kurt?" Christy asked. "After all he has given you?"

Penny knew she was talking about breaking with Kurt. "I had to. He was slutting around on his phone."

Christy gave a confused look. "Really?" she asked. "Kurt said you where the one slutting around with that nerd tutor."

Penny felt shocked. "What? That is a lie!"

"Well everyone thinks Kurt is telling the truth…"

"Well as my friend I hope you can trust me." She said. "I never told anyone about… stuff you've done Christy!"

"It is a bit hard to believe when the whole school knows you and Leonard have been spending time together." She continued. "When I suggested you get a nerd I thought you'd be better at keeping it on the down low…"

"And why did you ask me to get Leonard a dinner table and hotel room at places my father owns on the night you break up with Kurt?" Another cheerleader spoke up. "A bit odd, don't you think?"

"Leonard had a date with someone else. I was helping him!" Penny rebutted angrily.

Christy snickered and some of the cheerleaders shook their heads in disappointment. Penny rolled her eyes.

"What do I need to do? Prove it?" she stood up and glared at Christy. "Do I have to set up some equation where Leonard and I are variables and co-efficents?"

Christy looked confused. "Wow. You sound nerdier then Shelbot."

Penny rolled her eyes again. "What do I need to do to prove that I am not lying?"

Christy thought for a moment and then gave a sly smile. "You can prove you don't like the nerd. Maybe embarrass him up real good."

Penny shook her head. "I can't do that to Leonard. He is helping me stay on the squad…"

"I guess you don't care then that the whole school will think you're a nerd slut." She said. "I thought your social status meant more to you!"

It took everything in her mind to stop herself from slapping Christy. Was this really the same friend? When had they been so terrible?

"Fine! I'll think about it!" she agreed. "I'm going to the ladies room. Don't any of you think of coming." She said.

She got permission to go to the bathroom from the coach. She walked away from the running students and gloating cheerleaders. She wasn't really going to the bathroom. She just needed to be away from them for a few minutes. She intended to walk around a bit and then return.

She thought about what Christy said about how embarrassing Leonard would make the school think she didn't like him. Could that really stop the rumours and maintain popularity?

She shook her head. How could she think about doing something like that to a friend? She thought of asking Leonard to fake an embarrassment but she stopped herself once again. Leonard didn't care about popularity and wouldn't understand.

Even though she tried to stop the thoughts of how embarrassing Leonard would help her, they kept coming to her as she walked around. That is until she heard something in a nearby hallway.

"This isn't logical at all!" he heard. "Your insignificant problems have nothing to do with me!"

"You don't have a choice!" she heard the familiar voice of Kurt. Penny quickly walked to where she heard the voices but all she saw was a door shutting to a male's bathroom.

"Why are you doing this…" she heard someone loudly saying within the bathroom.

"Shut up nerd!" Kurt said within the bathroom.

Penny walked into the male's bathroom without hesitation and saw Kurt and some of his football player friends stuffing someone's head into a toilet. From the red t-shirt and long sleeves, she recognised the guy as Sheldon Cooper.

"Kurt? What the hell?" Penny asked furiously. Kurt instantly pulled Sheldon's head out the toilet. Sheldon began to cough a lot and looked like he was going to throw up.

"Mouth wash! Face wash! Soap!" Sheldon began panicking.

"Shut up nerd!" Kurt commanded.

"Kurt! This is not okay!" she reprimanded. "Why are you hurting Sheldon?"

"I can't believe you are asking that Penny." Kurt shook his head. "What has happened to you?"

Penny gave a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Do you even remember Kathy Geiger and the cornfield?" he said. Penny glared at him.

"That has nothing to do with this!"

"I remember you enjoying that. The sex we had after…"

"Kurt!" Penny interrupted. "Not important! Just let Sheldon go!"

"Only if we get back together…"

"**** you Kurt!" Penny sweared. She quickly went toward Sheldon and grabbed his arm. She pulled him towards her but saw one of Kurt's football friends coming towards her. She knew exactly what to do and kicked his crotch area. The guy felt instant pain and stopped.

"Come on, Sheldon!" She pulled him outside the toilets as quickly as she could and away from Kurt.

As soon as they left the toilets Sheldon pulled his arm away from Penny. Penny noticed that Sheldon was shaking.

"Do you need to go to the school nurse…"

"I need a shower. I need a thousand showers! And a thousand litres of mouthwash!" Sheldon screeched.

"The gym bathroom has a shower…"

"Not that germ infested hell-hole!" Sheldon complained. "A proper shower like at my house!"

The bell rang signifying the end of that class and the start of lunch. Penny sighed.

"I'll drive you home Sheldon." She said. "No one will notice if we're gone during lunch."

Penny noticed Sheldon was about to argue but then stopped himself. "Okay. I guess I can skip lunch so I maintain my health."

Penny walked towards the school exit and Sheldon followed.

#

Leonard walked towards the school cafeteria during his lunch break. Concentrating in class that day was hard as he kept thinking and over-thinking his date.

"Leonard!" he heard Howard say and he and Raj walked up to him. "You can't go in the cafeteria!"

"Is there a rat loose in there again?" Leonard asked with sarcasm.

Raj shook his head. "We'll explain if you walk to the library with us."

Leonard sighed but didn't reject their suggestion. He followed the two.

"There is more to Penny and Kurt's break-up then we thought." Raj explained. "Everyone thinks Penny cheated on him with you. If you go in the cafeteria with all those jocks and cheerleaders, you'll be roasted alive. Metaphorically."

Leonard gave a confused look. "Penny and I are just friends. We aren't romantic or sexual or anything but… friends."

Raj rolled his eyes. "Guys like a Kurt are insecure deep down. They see any guy be friends with their girl and they break."

Leonard sighed. He did not need this kind of mess especially since he had a girlfriend. What if Priya heard about this?

The three walked into the library and saw Bernadette and Amy sitting in there. Leonard saw Amy had a maths book open whilst Bernadette was reading a novel.

"I need to talk to Bernadette."

"Howard, how many times are you going to try…" Raj began but was interrupted.

"This is about Valentino." Howard told him.

"Who?" Leonard asked.

"The rabbit we rescued last night." He explained. "I need to talk to her about what we need to do."

Howard walked up to the girl's table and sat down. Raj and Leonard did the same.

"Oh, look The Three Stooges have returned." Bernadette joked when she saw him.

"I get that reference now!" Amy said proudly. Leonard gave a confused look before remembering Bernadette made the same joke before and Amy didn't get it. Amy changed the topic. "Have you three seen Sheldon?"

They shook their heads. Amy sighed. She was tapping her fingers on the table and looked nervous.

"Valentino misses you Bernadette." Howard said. "I am going to the vet after school. I was hoping you'd come along and then help me look after him."

"I don't know if I can spend more time with you Howard." Bernadette said. "I like Valentino but you are so sleazy…"

"But you seemed like you knew what you were doing with looking after a rabbit." Howard explained. "I don't."

Bernadette thought of a legitimate excuse "I am also going with Amy after school to meet her father. As emotional support."

It made sense now why Amy looked so nervous. Leonard noticed Amy looked down to the ground when Bernadette mentioned it.

"Umm… I guess I could text Sheldon and… see if he'd come with me." Amy said with a stutter. "Not that I think I can just replace you with Sheldon. He'd never let me borrow his lipstick."

Bernadette gave a look of concern to Amy. "Are you sure? Sheldon is not the 'emotional support' kind of guy."

"I don't see why you would think that." Amy was confused. "He took me to the 'science of the brain' lecture and Howard's Party."

"Are you really okay…" Bernadette began

"She clearly is okay with it." Howard interrupted. "Valentino needs your help."

Bernadette rolled her eyes. "I will go with you. But as soon as we are finished with the vet I am going to go and help Amy."

"Thank you Bernadette." Howard gave a very obvious smile.

#

"Thank you for doing this Penny." Sheldon's mother said. The two were in Sheldon's dining room whilst Sheldon was showering "I do wish Sheldon could get along with the other kids."

"Sheldon is fine." Penny re-assured. "It was all Kurt."

"Are you talking about me?" They heard. The two turned and saw Sheldon with a new change of clothes on. He was no longer shaking or looking like he was sick.

"It's nothing." His mother re-assured.

"Ms. Cooper can I talk to Sheldon in private?" Penny asked.

"Sure thing." Mary gave a smile. "If you need anything I'll be in the living room." Mary walked away.

"We should be getting back to school." Sheldon reminded. Penny smelt all the mouthwash and toothpaste Sheldon had put into his mouth and the flowery scent of a face-wash or shampoo.

"We have a few minutes before we need to." Penny insisted. "I need to talk to you about what Kurt did."

"Kurt stuck my head in a toilet." Sheldon said. "It isn't the first time and I doubt it'll be the last."

"It is my fault Sheldon!" Penny said. "He is angry that I am friends with Leonard. He is going after the geeks of the school now." Suddenly tears fell down Penny's face. She put her hands up to her face to cover it.

"Why are you crying?" Sheldon asked. He looked uncomfortable at this.

"Everything is my fault." She continued to cry. "I see it now. The way my friends and Kurt are acting. It is how I always acted before. I am them."

"You can't be all of them Penny." Sheldon looked confused. "You would be only _one_ of them…"

"Do you remember Kathy Geiger?" Penny interrupted Sheldon's correction.

"I have an eidetic memory. Of course I do." Sheldon said. "She was a Straight-A student at our school. Second only to me in terms of grades. About a year ago she moved to the all-girls school."

"The reason she moved schools is because my friends and me bullied her." Penny explained. "She seemed proud of her grades so we took her to a cornfield and left her there. With a string of corn stuck in her mouth."

"Why are you telling me this Penny?" Sheldon asked.

"Because I am pretty sure we've done the same to you before. And Howard and Raj. And to Leonard on his first day." Penny said. "When I first talked to Leonard I defended Kurt. I said 'he got enthusiastic.' Do you see how horrible we are to you guys?"

Sheldon looked even more confused. "If it helps I can tell you what Kurt said to me before he shoved me into the bathroom and into the toilet."

"What did he say?"

"Some ramble about sneaking into to Howard's gathering after hearing you were going there. He jumped his fence." Sheldon explained. "And some nonsense about nerds, including me, taking you away from him. And throwing rabbits at windows in the most stupid revenge idea I've ever heard"

"The rabbit Bernadette was looking after!" Penny remembered.

"I don't know anything about Kathy Geiger but the only thing you did in relation to what happened to me today was break up with Kurt." Sheldon continued. "And I would've done the same in your situation given Kurt's idiocy."

"Not why I broke up with him but I see what you mean." Penny said. "But… The fact I was even considering embarrassing Leonard makes me feel sick. My friends said it would prove I didn't like him…"

Sheldon's phone buzzed and he looked at it. "Amy wants me to come with her to meet her father. That changes my entire day's plan! How inconvenient!"

"But Sheldon, Amy is…"

"I know what Amy is, Penny." Sheldon said. He typed 'yes' into his phone and sent it to Amy.

Penny gave a curious look like she was expecting some elaboration. What he said and his actions were completely different. However, she also saw the time on Sheldon's phone. "We should go back to school now."

"Finally." Sheldon felt relieved. Penny gave a small smile. She said goodbye to Sheldon's mother and she drove the two of them back to school.

#

Bernadette and Howard sat next to each other in the vet's waiting room. Howard was holding the box where Valentino was walking around in. Bernadette saw that he was looking better but she knew looks weren't everything when it came to health.

"Do you have money for this?" Bernadette asked.

"Yeah, I took some from my mother." He said.

"You took it?"

"I know where she keeps the money she spends on junk food." Howard explained. "And she goes through it so quickly that she doesn't notice when I take a little."

"Howard and Bernadette!" The Vet's assistant said loudly in the waiting room. "The vet is ready for you."

The two walked into the Vet office where a woman in a white coat was standing. "Good afternoon." She greeted. "I'm Yvette."

"Hey." The Bernadette said "We're here about a rabbit we rescued."

"It hit our window pretty hard." Howard explained. "But it seems fine. But we aren't sure…"

"Let me take a look." Yvette said. Howard put the box down and Yvette carefully carried Valentino out. She put him on a table and began to inspect him. "Hold still little bunny." She said as she looked at the animal's limbs.

Bernadette looked at Howard during this. He wondered if he would say something about Yvette, given her gender but he seemed very focused on Valentino.

"That is interesting." Yvette said.

"What is it?" Howard asked.

"She has a large bruise on her side like she was slammed against something." She said. "But no permanent damage."

Howard took a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. We found him after he made a banging noise against a window. Don't know why though…"

"I'm going to have to do some test on him. Check for diseases." Yvette concluded. "You did say you rescued him correct?"

"Yeah we have no idea where he came from." Bernadette said.

"I'm going to do some tests on him." She explained. "I can keep him under observation for a few days. You can make another appointment to collect him and hear the results."

"Thank you so much!" Howard said.

Yvette gave a smile. "My receptionist will help you make an appointment." She said. "And thank you for helping the little guy. I wish more people would rescue animals like you two."

The two said goodbye walked out. Bernadette noticed Howard's face was bright red.

"Are you blushing?" Bernadette asked.

"No." he shook his head.

"You really care for Valentino now don't you?" Bernadette asked. "And Yvette complimenting you…"

"Do you disapprove? Is blushing sexist?" Howard wondered.

Bernadette shook her head. "No." she said. "It is nice to see you get a compliment for something good you've done."

Howard and Bernadette made an appointment at the reception and then left the office. Bernadette texted Amy immediately to see if she had met with her father and whether it went well.

#

The whole school had been talking about Leonard and about how he broke up Kurt and Penny's relationship. But Leonard did not see Penny all day. And they didn't have a scheduled tutoring so after school he went straight back home. Thankfully his mother or brother wasn't home so he didn't have to deal with any condescending comments.

He went up to his room and began to do some homework. His phone buzzed a few minutes later and he expected it to be Priya. It was Penny calling instead. He picked up the phone.

"You picked up!" Penny sounded surprised.

"Hello Penny." Leonard greeted. "How are you?"

"I assume you've heard about the break-up." Penny said.

"Yeah…" he said awkwardly. "I'm sorry….?"

"You don't sound like it." Penny noticed.

"I didn't keep it a secret that I didn't like Kurt." Leonard explained.

"I assume you heard what Kurt was saying about it…"

"I know." he said.

"It wasn't true, obviously." She said. "He was messaging girls on Tindr…"

"Penny, I know it isn't true." Leonard re-assured.

"Oh, of course." She said. "Hey, how was your date last night?"

Leonard gulped. He wasn't sure how much he should tell Penny. "Well. It went well until… until… it is hard to explain…"

"The bedroom right?" Penny asked. "Or 'hotel room' more like."

"Yeah… it didn't go so well… I kinda didn't perform as I hoped…" Leonard felt himself stuttering over his words.

"You don't need to say anymore. I don't necessarily need to know the squishy details." she said. "But… I hate to mention it but do you really think when Kurt was so great the first time we did it?"

"Well we didn't do it." Leonard explained. "It kind of ended before it began."

Penny gave a small giggle. "Yeah, that is what I mean."

"What? Really?"

"Kurt was overly excited when we first tried." She explained. "But after a few times we learnt each other's likes and rhythms and stuff."

Leonard suddenly felt a little better. Like what happened wasn't as bad as he had made it out to be in his head. Hearing Penny explain that to him made him realise how some couples had to go through events like this.

"Has Priya contacted to you since?" Penny asked.

"No. She hasn't." he said. "I haven't contacted her either."

"You should… at least try… again…" she advised.

"I will text her after this call." Leonard said.

The two continued to talk and Leonard explained some physics concepts that Penny had been trying to understand. That is until Leonard heard his mother come home. The two said goodbye and hung up. Leonard texted Priya in hope that she would respond. He then remembered he forgot to ask Penny why she had called him the night before. He'd have to do it the next time they spoke.

#

Amy was shaking nervously as she sat at the police station. Sheldon was sitting next to her looking at his phone.

"Can you talk to me about something?" Amy asked.

"What would you like me to say?" he asked.

"Tell me about where you were at lunch." She said.

"Oh. Kurt stuck my head in a toilet. Penny stopped them and drove me home so I could take a shower." He explained. "Afterwards she insisted on discussing her emotional issues which was frankly quite uninteresting."

"I can only imagine." Amy agreed. "Was it about males and popularity?"

"That is exactly what she talked about." Sheldon informed. "But I found it hard to place what emotions she was feeling or wanted me to show. So I just said what was logical…"

Bernadette's father walked up to the two of them with a serious expression on his face. "Your father is ready to see you."

Amy visibly looked nervous. She gulped and her eyes widened.

"Do you want Sheldon and I to be in there with you?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure." Amy agreed although she was hardly concentrating on the what he asked.

The two stood up and followed Bernadette's father towards a room. Amy wouldn't know who would be on the other side of the door. For some reason she took hold of Sheldon's hand. And for some reason he didn't let go.

 **I apologise for the long wait between chapters. If you only knew the amount of work I had to finish before mid-semester break you would understand why I did not have time to write. But I started writing again as soon as I had finished.**

 **Also I wrote this chapter twice. The first version sucked and Penny did actually try to embarrass Leonard. I just couldn't go through with that, so I re-wrote the entire thing. I think this version is so much better.**

 **Thank you all for reading. What did you think of what happened this chapter and what do you think will happen next? Next chapter will start with Amy and her father but how will that go?**

 **If you wish to leave feedback please review and if you wish to keep updated please favourite or follow on here or on tumblr(clintcooper).**

 **Thanks again for waiting and being patient.**

 **Clint Cooper**


	17. The Father Addition

When Amy and Sheldon walked up to the room at the police station they were still holding hands. The two didn't know what to expect. Amy couldn't remember anything about her father and only knew what her mother had told her. And she did not know how much of what she said was true.

Bernadette's Father opened the door and the two walked inside. There was a man sitting at a desk and looking down at his phone. Amy looked at him carefully and noticed certain similarities instantly. His hair colour was the same colour of mud as hers and he was wearing glasses just like she does. The man looked up and straight into Amy's eyes and Amy let go of Sheldon's hand. Her father gave her a curious look. Amy guessed that he was in his 40s and saw that he had a short beard.

He stood up instantly. "Hey… I am Amy's Father… which I think is you…" He had an accent but they couldn't tell where from.

"Umm…" Amy found herself speechless.

"Hello." Sheldon spoke up. "You are correct as this is Amy Farrah-Fowler. And she is clearly quite ecstatic to meet you."

"Yes." Amy nodded, even though she felt far from ecstatic.

"And she is really hoping she can find a suitable legal guardian until she finishes school and goes to college." Sheldon continued to talk for Amy. "That isn't too long, so it shouldn't be a huge hindrance on your life."

Amy gave a Sheldon a questioning look. Did he want her to be taken away? Or was he just helping her?

"Oh…" Amy's father spoke up. "Hindrance is not a word I would use now your mother is gone Amy. And who is this guy? You don't have a brother do you?"

Amy shook her head. "No." she finally spoke up. "This is my friend from school."

"Future PHD Sheldon Cooper." Sheldon said. "I'm replacing her friend who had a last-minute change of plans to go to the vet and look after a stray rabbit who I believe was thrown against a window…"

"Sheldon." Bernadette's father interrupted. "Can you please step out of the room with me."

"Oh, of course officer." Sheldon complied.

The two walked out and shut the door.

"I know you are just trying to help but this is Amy's first meeting with her father and she needs to interact with him too." Mike said. "So since we need to discuss private matters I would appreciate it if you stayed out here."

"What? Amy needs me." Sheldon protested. "And that person could be a serial murderer for all we know. And we just left her in a room with him."

Bernadette's father sighed. "Wait out here until we finished. I promise you can look after Amy all you want then."

Mike walked back into the room and left Sheldon waiting outside.

#

Sheldon sat in the waiting room for an hour wondering what was happening. He had not heard any violent screams or alarms go off which was a good sign but the wait was making him bored. He looked at his phone but nothing seemed to be interesting to him.

Eventually however the door opened and the three people who were in there emerged. Sheldon struggled to read Amy's facial expression. Was she happy? Sad? Confused? Not caring about anything?

"I promise Amy… I will try my best." He told her. "I hope you now understand why I wasn't there for you all these years."

"I think I do understand." Amy nodded. "Although I do think you could've tried a bit harder to retrieve me from my mother but you seem to be an anxious person and that could cause an array of anxieties."

Sheldon couldn't help but smile. It seemed Amy was at least talking again like she usually did.

"Tomorrow I'll bring some paperwork to be a guardian." Mike explained. "And then you two can get to know each other. I'll let the school know you won't be attending tomorrow."

Sheldon decided it was time to interject. "Amy can't miss school. That will affect her education!"

"Didn't you skip school recently because you were sad." Amy reminded. Sheldon gave a look of condescension.

"That was different." Sheldon said, but didn't offer any explanation to why it was.

"Actually Sheldon I was hoping you would join us tomorrow." Amy said.

"I can't skip school, Amy…"

"We'll get to go to Caltech, thanks to my dad." Amy gave a smile.

"Oh." Sheldon said. "I guess I can skip school to check out a college. That is still educational."

Sheldon saw Amy's father give him a curious look, like he couldn't figure Sheldon out. Which was confusing to Sheldon because he was pretty much an open book. He also wondered what the interaction between Amy and her father was like in that room and why Amy understood him not being there. He then stopped wondering, reminding himself he doesnt care about other people's private matters.

#

Leonard had been checking his phone since he woke up but he had gotten no response from Priya. He called her but she didn't pick up. He was getting concerned that she was doing this on purpose. When he walked into school he met up with Howard and Raj and was talking with them.

"Raj, how is your sister?" Leonard asked him.

"Why do you care?" Raj queried with suspicion.

"I'm just curious." Leonard lied. "I haven't seen her since I worked at the café."

"Well you're not going too." Raj said. "I don't need another short horny guy trying to do anything dirty with my sister!" Leonard sighed. He should've known asking Raj wouldn't help.

The three saw Michael walking up to them. He was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and was not wearing his football jacket. He was looking around the area like he was hiding something.

"Hey Michael." Leonard greeted. "Nice sunglasses." he complimented sarcastically

"I'm trying to remain inconspicuous whilst talking to you." Michael explained. "If anyone sees me with you three they'll think I'm a geek."

"That sounds ridiculous." Leonard almost laughed. "But I am now curious why you'd risk your social status to talk to me."

"It is a private matter." He explained. "Can we talk away from your two sidekicks?"

"I am not the sidekick!" Howard insisted.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Excuse me, Howard and Raj, I'm going to talk to my brother."

The two walked away from Howard and Raj.

"So what do you want?"

"It is about our parents." Michael explained. "Are we really just going to let them fight like this?"

"When did you care so much about our family?" Leonard asked.

Michael shrugged. "I don't care _that_ much." He tried to clarify. "But our home has been less uh…. homely since our father left. Mother is hardly there due to her work and you are always tutoring Penny or dating that girl or in your room ignoring everyone."

Leonard raised his eyebrow. "Your lonely?"

"Of course not! I have many popular friends and side chicks who I can hang with at anytime." He insisted. "I just want our family to sort our issues out. Whether it be being back together or actually confirming some sort of separation!"

Leonard nodded. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

"We obviously need to organise some sort of intervention." He said. "I'll get mother home as she'd listen to me more than you. And father will probably pity you if you say you have no one to hang out with but him and he'll come over to pick you up. Lie and say mother won't be home."

"I can think of some better excuse." Leonard said. "But okay. I'll contact father and say to meet up at home."

"Yes, about dinner time tonight…" Suddenly Michael noticed someone in a football jacket turn a nearby corner. "Gotta go. Bye." And he quickly walked away from Leonard.

"Don't forget to return my sunglasses, Michael!" Leonard shouted jokingly so the people around could hear. Michael glared at Leonard but didn't acknowledge him. The other football player looked confused but didn't do anything either.

#

"We will win! We will win! Go team!" The Cheerleaders chanted during an impromptu practice session before lunch break. Penny stood at the front of the troop as she was one of the best. Even though she was making progress in her academics she still enjoyed performing in front of people more. There was a reason she was working so hard to pass her subjects and stay on the squad.

"Good job squad." The cheerleading coach said. "Next game, if you perform like that, you will add so much pep to the game! Practice is over!"

Penny grabbed her water bottle and drank from it. She was intending on going to the gym bathrooms for a shower but admittedly what Sheldon said the day before about it being a 'germ-infested hell hole' did appear in her mind. She couldn't help but laugh as she thought of it.

"Penny!" she heard from behind her. It was Christy's voice and Penny couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Hey Christy." She said without her usual perky tone.

"Have you given my embarrassment plan any thought?" she asked. "I hope you have. I'd be happy to help in anyway."

"I've given it thought and decided not to." she said. "I know the school may think I am a nerd slut but after seeing what Kurt was doing to Sheldon yesterday… I just can't."

Christy sighed. "I was hoping for better Penny."

"I could say the same about you Christy." Penny said.

"Well the other cheerleaders will start not wanting you on the squad if…"

"If what? I'm a slut?" Penny asked. "I am one of the best on the team. Kicking me off the team because of Kurt or Leonard would be proof to people that cheerleaders are just vain and stupid. And I know several cheerleaders who don't fit that description."

Christy gave Penny a glare. "Don't bother hanging out with us at lunch or after school anymore Penny. You may be needed on the cheer squad but definitely not as a friend."

Like someone trying to be over-dramatic, Christy flipped her hair and walked away.

#

Penny walked into the cafeteria and instinctively walked towards the popular table. Some of the cheerleaders saw this and instantly began to take up chairs. They put their feet or bags on the chairs and found other students quickly to sit next to them. She remembered what Christy said after cheerleading practice and it seemed to be a collective opinion of the popular people. Penny looked around for another table to sit at but noticed the whole cafeteria was watching her next move. Penny knew how this would work. They wouldn't let Penny sit next to them because that is what the popular people were doing.

Instead of enduring any more of this Penny turned around and walked out of the cafeteria. She tried to think of a place where she could go by herself at lunch-time but she really did not want to be alone. She remembered that Bernadette often spent lunch-time in the library when she found hanging with Penny's popular friends annoying. So Penny walked to the library and ignored a few questioning looks from people who noticed her go in. She saw Bernadette, Howard and Raj sitting at a table and they all seemed pre-occupied with a book or laptop. She walked up to them.

"Hey." She greeted. The three looked up at her.

"Penny?" Bernadette asked. "Why are you in the library?"

"Oh, my friend's table… I mean the cheerleading table was out of seats." She said. "I decided to come here and sit with you."

Bernadette gave a suspicious look. "Out of seats? Penny, everyone in the school would usually grovel to give you a seat."

Penny sat down next to Bernadette and began to explain. "Christy has really been a bitch about the Kurt break-up. She wanted me to embarrass to Leonard but I refused. So she basically enlisted the Cheerleaders and everyone else to be annoying to me."

"I'm sorry Penny." Bernadette said sympathetically. "Well, I know we're not the popular cafeteria table but you can sit with us anytime."

"Thanks Bernadette." Penny couldn't help but smile. "Where is Leonard?"

"I was calling my father." Leonard said and Penny realised he had just walked up to the table. "Just some family stuff. Why are you sitting here Penny?"

"Just popular people stuff." Bernadette explained.

"Christy wanted me to… uh… well… I didn't do something she wanted." She said. "So they don't like me anymore and here I am."

Leonard gave a sly smile. "If you hang out with us during lunch we can do more tutoring sessions!"

"I hope you're joking because I need my lunch breaks to take a _break_ from the school work." She said with a laugh.

"Of course I was." Leonard also laughed.

Raj whispered something into Howard's ear and Howard rolled his eyes.

"No we aren't leaving Raj!" Howard insisted. "You just have to get used to not talking now we're hanging out with some females!"

"Oh I'm sorry Raj." Penny said.

Raj stood up and walked quickly from the table. Howard rolled his eyes.

"He is in a mood." Howard noticed. "I'll go talk to him." Howard stood up and left the table.

"Maybe he should get something like Stephen Hawking has to talk to women." Leonard joked.

"And the girls sure do love someone who talks like Stephen Hawking." Penny continued the joke. Both of them laughed. Bernadette looked at the two of them and back at her work. She seemed to notice some connection but decided to not say anything.

"Did you talk to Priya?" Penny asked.

Leonard sighed. "I called her before calling my father. No response."

Penny nodded but didn't look disappointed at this. "I honestly don't know what else to do."

"What about actually talking to her. Face-to-face." Bernadette said without looking up from her work. "We aren't just our phones, remember."

"That is a great idea!" Penny said. "Maybe you could go to the café and talk to her. She still works there right?"

"Yep." Leonard nodded. "I guess it is time for me to face her after what happened. I hope it isn't awkward."

"Just joke about it if she brings Valentine's Day up." Penny suggested. "After some time those kind of things become humorous. Of course that can't happen straight away."

"Thanks Penny." Leonard said. "Thanks to you Priya and I will be back to normal in no time."

"Yeah." Penny said unsurely. "Thanks to me."

#

"So we're just going to sit here until Bernadette's father and your father finish their paperwork." Sheldon complained as they sat in the police station.

"Yeah but then we get to go to Caltech for lunch with my dad." Amy said. "That should be fun!"

"I assume if he is signing the paperwork that he has already been checked by the authorities and he is seen as a suitable guardian?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Amy said. "Why do you ask?"

"Just being extra careful." Sheldon said. "As that is the appropriate procedure for this process."

Amy nodded. "I believe it is." She said. "He has never committed any crime and he has a job and money to care for me. Nothing to be concerned about. Well, except maybe one thing…"

Sheldon gave a concerned look. "What? Is he an engineer?"

Amy sighed. "Yeah, but I am not referring to that." She said. Sheldon gasped at this revelation.

"You're the daughter of an engineer!" Sheldon said with surprise. "That makes your intelligence more impressive!"

Amy shook her head. "Sheldon, please listen!" she said. "He is a manager for a successful engineering company in Brisbane."

"Brisbane?" Sheldon questioned. "As in Brisbane, Australia?"

Amy nodded her head. "Yeah. There is the possibility of me moving there if he becomes my legal guardian."

Sheldon nodded. "Interesting scenario. I guess you'll be finishing your high school years in Australia." He said. "It certainly is different. They don't SATs and base college entrance on your collective final year grades ranked against everyone else…"

"Sheldon, I don't want to move to Brisbane." She admitted. "Maybe before I met you and Bernadette I would have not cared but I have people I care for now. I can't just leave my entire American life behind."

Sheldon gave a confused look. "Just apply for American college instead of an Australian one and you can return. And Bernadette and I can just use online communication."

"I know you think that online communication is a substitute for normal communication." Amy said. "But it won't be. And I'll have to go through the 'new school' process again which I don't want. Especially since I won't be in high school for much longer anyway."

Sheldon did not know how to respond so he shrugged. Amy put her face in her hands and Sheldon assumed this meant she was sad.

"It'll be okay…" He said in his usual comforting tone, which was not comforting at all.

"Thanks Sheldon." Amy said sarcastically. Sheldon didn't get it was sarcastic and felt happy at being thanked.

"You're welcome." He said. "Now that I think about it, did he leave you and your mother because he went to Australia? You never told me why he left."

Amy shook her head. "No. He told me why and it is much worse than that." Amy explained. "You see, when I was younger…" But before she could continue Amy's father, who looked slightly anxious, and Mike walked into the waiting room.

"Thank you for coming back for Amy after all you went through with her mother." Mike added. "When this paperwork is processed you will be her official guardian. Hopefully it won't be too long."

"That is okay." He responded.

"Now go and spend time with Amy." Mike insisted. "Have a good day." Mike waved goodbye to Amy's father and then Amy and Sheldon. He then walked away.

"So…" Amy's father began to speak but looked unsure of how it would go. "Are you ready to go to Caltech? I have some engineering friends there so maybe we can visit them and see what they're doing after lunch. I know you are interested in science…"

"Engineering is not science!" Sheldon insisted.

"True, engineering is not science." Amy's father nodded. "It is much more than that."

Sheldon gave an angered look. "I've never heard such idiotic…"

Amy saw a derogatory remark coming from Sheldon and interrupted. "I'm hungry." She said. "Maybe we can discuss this later when we're eating lunch at Caltech!"

"Okay." Amy's father nodded. "Let's go."

The three of them walked out of the police station and to a car. They then drove off towards Caltech.

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter and what do you think of all that happened? Please favourite and follow me here or on tumblr(clintcooper) and please review if you wish to leave feedback. I have received many great and constructive reviews that give me motivation to write when I need it.**

 **I am really sorry for the time between chapters. As you might remember I am in the middle of college semester so I have so much work right now. And because of this I doubt the next chapter will be out anytime soon. College has also made me be really behind on Fanfiction reading so sorry to those people who I usually review their stories. This chapter took ages to write because I wrote it sparingly and I couldn't get most of the scenes right and kept getting writer's block while writing. I wrote this entire chapter twice and didn't like any of the first version except the scene where Christy and Penny talk. That is copied and pasted from the first version.**

 **One reason I couldn't get it right was because of Amy's father. I had him talking so much about who he was and why he wasn't there that the story became really static. So I made it so you don't find everything about him immediately including why he wasn't there for Amy for so many years. Just some details this chapter like his profession, anxiousness and where he lives. Next chapter you will see more and see Amy and Sheldon interacting with him and finding more information about him. Also next chapter will see some meeting between Leonard's parents and Leonard trying to talk with Priya.**

 **Thank you once again!**

 **Clint Cooper**


	18. The Break-Up Development

"I'm not sure if you should move and be taken care of by your father." Sheldon said as he and Amy were sitting in a cafeteria on the Caltech campus.

Amy suddenly felt surprised and thought Sheldon finally realised that Amy could be moving to Australia which is where her father was living. "Really?" She questioned hopefully.

"The way he just left us in a cafeteria where we could get kidnapped." Sheldon shook his head. "I imagine that is parenting is hindered due to his engineer sized brain…"

Amy rolled her eyes. "He is ordering our lunch, five feet away." She pointed to him in the cafeteria line. "I can see him checking over here every few seconds." Amy waved at her father and he awkwardly waved back.

"Good point." Sheldon said "I guess you can move to Australia after all."

Amy sighed. Ever since the aftermath of being taken away from her mother she had been drifting away from some of things that made Sheldon and her mind similar. She was caring about being with him and her new friends. Not something Sheldon had yet developed.

"So, what are we discussing?" Amy's father asked when he returned.

"Your suitability as a guardian." Sheldon said bluntly. Amy father gave a confused look.

"Sheldon!" Amy reprimanded. She spoke directly to her father. "I'm just talking about moving to Australia and how difficult it would be to adjust."

Amy's dad looked at the two of them for a few seconds and then nodded. "Have you explained to Sheldon… Umm… Well… Why I wasn't being your guardian for a long time. Maybe that will ease his mind."

"My mind is never eased." Sheldon said facetiously. "I just use logic to determine an answer."

"I think that is a yes." Amy answered for him. "I think it would be easier for you to explain it then me explaining it."

He nodded. "Okay.. Well… Amy's mother and I were a young couple and she got pregnant with Amy." He began explaining. "Life was tough because I was working all the time at my engineering job to provide for Amy and her mother was spending time working part-time at a store and looking after Amy. It was intense."

"Engineering job? Intense?" Sheldon said snarkily. Amy gave Sheldon a glare but he didn't comprehend why.

"One day I found out that out of nowhere Amy's mother had met a preacher at the store she worked at. She had quit her job and agreed to work at his church. She eventually was spending all her time there and when I came home from work she and Amy were never there but at some service or mass."

"I'm guessing this preacher is why Amy's mother became so crazy." Sheldon said. "And I mean crazy for a religious person."

Amy's father sighed and looked nervous at continuing the story. "Well…yeah. When she did come home she would talk about sinning and how we were going to hell because we had unmarried relations and the fact she had done so with someone Jewish." He gestured to himself when he said this. "She began avoiding me and not allowing me to go into the same room as Amy because I hadn't repented to the Jesus like she had."

"So she was crazy." Sheldon nodded. "You could've broke up with her and gotten custody."

"I was too busy with work that I hadn't really thought about leaving." He explained "Instead I realised we needed to break up when she stuck a knife in my face and told me to leave her and Amy due to me being the devil's spawn. I tried to get to Amy and called 911 but when the police came she acted all nice and like I was causing the disturbance. Only now Amy's mother is locked up are people believing me about this."

Sheldon looked at him with suspicion. "And you couldn't get any custody for being the father… Why not?"

"I tried but Amy's mother had a large group of crazy religion friends. Every time I got somewhere I got anonymous threatening emails and letters and one of them was a lawyer who argued against me. I had gotten nothing. They were taking over every aspect of my life that I could hardly walk around without seeing one of them. I then applied to jobs all over the world and took the first one which accepted me. Which was in Brisbane."

"It sounds like torture Sheldon. He had to get away!" Amy backed this up.

"And you could never…"

"I tried to send her money and tried to get custody a few more times." He said. "The money was sent back or no one believed that a 'runaway' father would be better than a caring sweet religious mother. I was also too anxious from their constant death threats. I stayed away for our safety."

Sheldon nodded but felt unsure. "Seems a lot like excuses."

"Sheldon… My father is quite clearly an anxious person. Not everything is as good as you at everything." Amy said.

Sheldon looked at him suspiciously. "Okay. I don't know yet. But unlike everything should be, it isn't my decision."

"I hope you understand Sheldon." He said. "I'm Simon by the way. Simon Bialik."

After he said this a waitress has bought over their lunch. The cheeseburger Sheldon ordered had an above-average bun to meat to condiment ratio. He was impressed by Caltech already.

#

Leonard arrived at his home and heard a loud discussion in the living room.

"You made it sound like an emergency, Michael." He heard his mother complain. Michael must have successfully gotten her there for their parent's impending intervention. "I have a book to finish. I have no time to sit around."

"You need to stay for… for…" Leonard heard Michael try and think of something.

Beverly walked out of the room and saw Leonard.

"Oh, hello Leonard." Beverly greeted without emotion. "I don't suppose you have an emergency too."

Leonard thought of a lie quickly, thinking of what she just said about the book. "I wanted to talk to you about the book. Help you get your facts straight."

Beverly looked confused. "That is odd. I didn't think you cared about my book."

"I don't but I want to make sure it is accurate, for sciences sake."

"Fine." Beverly said. "I'll go through a few my findings. I doubt you'll understand most of it, but at least I'll be working on it."

The three of them heard a car park outside the house. Michael and Leonard knew this was probably their father.

"Who is that?" Beverly asked. The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Leonard volunteered. "You go to the living room and prepare your book notes or whatever…"

"Satisfactory plan." Beverly shrugged. She walked back into the living room and Michael followed. Leonard walked to the door and opened. As expected it was his father.

"Hello father." He said. "I… uh… hope you don't mind coming back here to help me with my… science work."

"I want you to get a good grade." He said. "And I know some of your new friends might be impressed with the quality of your work."

"Yep, that is how making friends at high school works." Leonard said with sarcasm. "My project is in the living room. Just… walk in there."

He did as Leonard said. Leonard did not know what to expect when he would see Beverly in the room. Leonard followed him.

"Beverly? What are you doing here?" Alfred asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Leonard is helping me with my book." Beverly explained.

"Leonard? Why are you helping her?" Alfred said and sounded really confused.

"Actually, father and mother, we bought you both here not for books or emergencies but because we need to sort your issues out." Michael said.

"Is this true?" Beverly asked Leonard. "This has to be some sort of practical joke! Why I am wasting all my time here!"

"The only 'practical joke' is how you've both been handling this separation or whatever you call it." Leonard said. "You are two are not talking to each other. Father has been losing contact with us and you just work and accuse us of choosing sides."

"Exactly." Michael agreed. "Decide something now and then we can all leave."

"That is a good idea." Leonard said. "No one leaves this room until you two sort this out."

"What? I have a friend with benefits date…" Michael began to say but Leonard gave him a look. Michael then nodded. "Yes. Decide now."

"I have decided." Alfred said. "It is finally time for me to stand up for myself. If Beverly does not stop writing this book… We are getting a divorce!"

Both Michael and Leonard felt slightly surprised. Not that he wanted a divorce, but that he just said it so bluntly and straight to Beverly's face.

"Fine!" Beverly almost shouted. "Divorce me! But I'm keeping the house!"

"Says who? We are both on the lease…"

"I am not moving again!" Beverly shouted. "And my book is almost finished and in a months time I'll be doing press for it. I'll have no time!"

The two began to argue, all about the logistics of the divorce and more on the importance of each other's career.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Michael thought aloud.

"At least they've decided to get a divorce." Leonard said. He looked at his phone and saw what the time. "Priya will probably be starting her shift soon. I need to see her at the café."

"Priya? What about Penny?" he asked. "I heard from Kurt you and her were a thing and that is why they broke up…"

"Seriously? You should know better than anyone that isn't true." He said. "Do you really think I, Leonard Hofstadter, the nerdy disappointment, could get Penny's romantic attention."

"You make a good point." Michael agreed. "And since Kurt and I would swipe together on Tindr, I think he _may_ have been the one cheating."

Leonard almost gave a laugh at this. "Right then. See you later." And then left.

#

"Amy! Amy!" someone shouted excitedly as they walked into her bedroom. It was one of Bernadette's sisters. "Look at this! Look at this!"

Amy was lying on her bed, thinking about all that had happened that day. She sat up and saw Bernadette's sister bring in a large dish and inside that dish was a cup full of red coloured baking soda. She already suspected what was going to happen.

"What is that?" she fakely asked.

"Just watch and see!" she exclaimed. She poured some vinegar into the cup which caused a reaction with the baking soda. It fizzed up and out of the cup and landed inside the dish.

"It created a carbonic acid that was so unstable that it broke apart into water and carbon dioxide!" Amy said.

"What does that mean?" Bernadette's sister looked confused.

"I meant, the baking soda became fizzy and bigger." Amy dumbed it down.

"I'm going to use it for both my science class and to get my science badge at girl guides!" she said. "I'm going to put it in a model of a volcano I'm making."

"Wow. That looks very scientific." She almost said sarcastically.

"Wow Mary that looks sucky!" One of Bernadette's brothers walked into the room. "Maybe this will be as science-y." He stuck his finger up his nose and pulled out a huge lump of snot. Amy internally cringed.

"Ew!" Bernadette's sister screeched.

"My nose erupted like that volcano!" he chuckled.

"What are you two doing?" Bernadette had heard the commotion and walked up to the room. "Joseph! Why is there snot on your finger!"

"I was performing science!" he smiled cheekily. "Amy was very impressed."

"I was not!" Amy insisted. "A monkey could do what he did!"

Bernadette sighed. "Would you two please leave Amy to herself. She has had a tough day."

The two were about to argue but Bernadette gave them a glare. They left as soon as possible.

"Thanks." Amy said. "Today has been tough."

"What happened with your dad?" she asked.

"He seems nice and has clear reasons for why he wasn't there this whole time." Amy explained. "Sheldon really gave him a rough time. He thinks my father is just making up excuses."

"Sheldon may be right a lot of the time, but in the end this is your life. Not his." Bernadette said.

"I know. But I do respect him and his opinion. And since I'm already conflicted about moving to Brisbane…" Amy began to say. Some tears then began to fall down her face.

"Amy! What is wrong?"

"What happened now with your siblings… I've been really adjusting and even enjoying being apart of a family living here and having a friendship group at school." She said between tears. "I have never felt better about me or my life."

"Your father will be your family…"

"It will be just him though. He has no wife or girlfriend or other children." She continued. "After my mother he cut off a lot of personal relationships."

"I see your predicament. Is he giving you a choice about re-locating?" Bernadette asked.

"He says that if I want to live with him that I'll have to move." she explained. "He is scared of being in America after all that happened here…"

"Your mother and her crazy religious friends." Bernadette finished. "I know."

"I know if I leave I can just come back for college in a year or two." She said. "But you all would move on. Sheldon will just adjust his routine eventually and won't have room for me anymore."

"Do you like Sheldon?" Bernadette asked.

"Of course. He is my friend…"

"No, I mean 'like like'." Bernadette continued. Amy gave a confused look. "In a romantic way."

Amy's eyes glanced quickly away from her "Bernadette… you know I don't like romantic relationships."

"Really? Amy, be honest!"

Amy sighed. "If I were to date someone, and I had to chose due to a threat, Sheldon would be my pick." She said.

Bernadette sighed. "No! Don't answer me with a hypothetical!"

Amy looked around the room nervously like she was checking for anyone. "Well… maybe.. I mean… Yes… I do 'like like' Sheldon, okay…" Amy admitted. Bernadette gasped with shock.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed.

"But it doesn't matter. If I leave there'll be no chance of anything." Amy said.

"Then you need to ask him." Bernadette suggested. "Ask him to be your boyfriend. So if you do leave, you'll have that commitment."

"No, Bernadette. That is ridiculous." She said. "We both have an aversion for romance. It won't work."

Bernadette's phone began to buzz from inside her pocket. She opened it and saw an unknown number had texted her.

 _Valentino will be picked up 2morow after school. You want to come?_

 _BTW it is Howard. I know you blocked my number so I got another one :D_

Bernadette rolled her eyes at this but responded anyways.

 _Sure. He needs his parents._

She couldn't believe she had just responded to spend more time with Howard. She told herself it was just to see Valentino and make sure he was fine.

#

Leonard walked into the café and saw Priya waitressing at one of the tables. He walked up to the girl at the counter, who must've been the person who replaced him. He ordered a hot chocolate and sat down at one of the tables. A few minutes later Priya walked up to his table with the drink but mustn't have recognised him until she was right in front of him.

"Leonard!" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted a hot beverage." He said. "And I wanted to be served by my favourite waitress."

Priya sighed and put his drink in front of him. "What do you want, Leonard?"

"Why haven't been responding to my messages." He said. "If you are mad at me or if you want to break up you have to tell me."

Priya took a seat at Leonard's table. "I really like you Leonard."

Leonard sighed. "But what?"

"Valentine's Day was really weird. I couldn't face you after it." She said.

"How did you expect it to turn out?" Leonard questioned. "We aren't a perfect couple. We need to learn each other's… whatever bedroom stuffs..." Leonard couldn't remember exactly how Penny explained it but he hoped it made sense.

Priya awkwardly glanced around. "I wasn't talking about that."

"What are you talking about?" Leonard asked. "Everything else about that night was great."

Priya sighed. "I can't say it. I'm sorry Leonard but we can't continue." She said. "I have to get back to work. I wish you the best in life." She stood up and walked away.

Leonard assumed this meant that the two were over. He felt and instant shock to his heart. Most of this was due to him liking Priya but some was still wondering what she was so weirded out by. He knew it would be preying on his mind.

"Hello Leon-Nerd." He heard a familiar voice say. He looked up and saw Kurt and a group of his friends walk in. Thankfully, Michael wasn't there.

"Hello Kurt." Leonard said. "Umm… How is the single life?"

Kurt ignored this question and looked towards Priya. "I saw you talking to that cute waitress. Too bad she is waaayyyy out of your league."

"Actually, we just broke up after being in a relationship." Leonard explained.

"Really?"

"I guess Michael never told you that during your Tindr swiping games." Leonard said. "And yes he told me about all the cheating you did whilst with Penny…"

Kurt glared at Leonard. "You'd better be careful Leonard. You don't have Penny protecting you from me anymore." Kurt looked around to Priya and then back at Leonard. "We'll be leaving. Goodbye Leon-Nerd."

Leonard sighed. Not only was he now not in a relationship but he was also being tormented by Kurt. He suddenly thought back to his first day at Pasadena High School. His intentions to not get noticed or mentioned or to talk to anymore. He wondered if it would've better if things had gone to plan.

#

Leonard arrived home and it sounded empty. He walked into the living room and saw the remnants of a fight. Some objects were randomly scattered around the room like they had been thrown. He assumed the divorce discussion hadn't gone that well.

Leonard's phone buzzed in his pocket and he saw it was Penny calling.

"Hello Penny." He answered. "I actually visited Priya and…"

"Leonard, I know you and Priya broke up." She said. "I thought I should warn you as soon as I could. You should check Facebook."

"Penny, is there a physics problem…"

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." She sounded tearful. "It is Kurt being annoyed that I broke up with him. I can believe this…"

Leonard walked to his room and opened Facebook on his computer. He saw a notification that he was tagged in a post. He clicked on the notification

He saw it was a random Facebook post with a link. The person who posted it was an account with no picture and the name 'Quick Draw'. The link's description said, "Leonard the quick draw". Several students from school had liked and shared it.

"Damn… I see the link." He said. "What the hell is a quick draw?"

"I can't stand this." Penny said. "I'm going to punch Kurt tomorrow for this."

"Keep calm Penny." Leonard said. "I'm just going to go to the link and I'll decide what to do."

Leonard clicked it and saw that the link lead to a site with an audio file. He played it.

" _Tell me was the nerd glasses guy the one who did the deed to fast." The voice sounded similar to Kurt but it was hard to tell._

" _I don't want to see you. I made a mistake with you and I've already payed for it!" said Priya with her distinct accent._

" _What mistake was that?"_

" _I had sex with you whilst dating Leonard." Priya answered "I did the right thing and broke up with him. So please go away. I don't want to see you now."_

" _Why did you have sex with me?" he asked. "Was it because Leonard.. you know… drew to quickly… and you were horny for some real man."_

" _I just contacted you because I was emotional just like the last time when I broke up with Sanjay." She continued. "Go away."_

" _But why were you emotional?"_

 _Priya sighed. "The quick draw thing. I was angered and annoyed and..."_

" _And that guy was Leonard Hofstadter?"_

" _Yes!" she exclaimed quickly. "I mean.. just shut up and leave me…"_

And the recording stopped suddenly before she could say anyone's name. It suddenly made sense why Priya broke up with him. She had contacted Kurt and had sex with him instead of Leonard. And then she was too embarrassed to admit it.

"Oh no." Leonard said in surprise. "This is not good…"

"Not good." Penny responded over the phone. "Leonard, people like Christy have been texting me about this since it came out. The entire school knows. You have to stay home for a few days. For your own safety."

"I can't skip school Penny…"

"I was one of them once, Leonard." She continued. "When this has happened before with Kathy Geiger we harassed and bullied them until they crack. You can't go through that."

Leonard sighed. "No. People like Kurt and Priya and my parents have spent too long making my life hell whilst I just let them." He said. "I'm going to school. And I'm going to have to show them I don't care."

"I don't think that is a good idea." Penny said. "But if you are going to school… I'm going to help you as much as I can and I'm sure Bernadette and Raj and the others will help."

"Thanks Penny."

Leonard said goodbye and then hung up the phone. He tried to get some homework done that night. But he kept thinking about the entire day. Priya breaking up with him, his parents getting a divorce and now Kurt targeting him. It would be an Oscar-worthy performance to try and look like he wasn't fazed by any of it. But he'd have to try.

 **I feel like a broken record but sorry for the delay. It was due to me being busy from college and when that was over I got very lazy and had a lot of writer's block. This chapter was the best I could do and I hope you liked it. I'm actually starting a new college semester now so it still might be a while until the next chapter.**

 **What do you think of what happened? How will Leonard deal with school? How will Amy deal with Sheldon and her father.**

 **If you wish to leave feedback please favourite, follow and/or review. I love seeing your reviews as it helps me know you're actually reading my stories. Also please follow me on tumblr(clintcooper) for updates on this story. Thank you all.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	19. The Meme Theory Experiment

Amy walked into school the next day and saw that Sheldon was waiting at her locker.

"Good morning Amy." Sheldon said with a smile. "I trust you slept well knowing your father isn't a knife-wielding psychopath… or so we think."

Amy gave an annoyed look. "Thanks Sheldon." She said sarcastically. "My sleep isn't my biggest worry right now."

"If you have been having difficulty sleeping then maybe you should get used to the feeling." Sheldon continued. "You will probably get jet-lag when you move to Australia…"

"Can we not talk about something else." Amy said. "I have been over-thinking this thing with my father and would like to stop. So… umm… have you heard about what happened with Leonard and Kurt posted on…?"

"I really couldn't care less about the inane dribble known as school gossip." He said. "Especially since Elementary School, when the phrase 'Shelly Cooper's a smelly pooper' spread like wildfire."

Amy couldn't help but giggle. "I should think so. That's gold." She said.

"I do hope that you're sudden interest in gossip doesn't mean you're changing into someone less intellectual…"

Amy shook her head reactively but knew that there was some truth in this. She was just as smart as before but talking with Bernadette and living with her had changed some of her interests. She now knew about all the gossip and wore make-up. She even had gotten into watching silly rom-coms or chick-flicks.

"I like to think of gossip from an intellectual stand-point." Amy made something up. "Umm… you know… socially how it works and why. Do you know meme theory?"

"Who doesn't know meme theory?" Sheldon asked without a hint of joking. "It suggests gossip are like living things that seek to reproduce using humans as their host. But I've never been one for the social sciences."

"As someone who intends on going into neurobiology, how the brain thinks is very important." She explained. "And… it also keeps my mind off possibly moving."

Sheldon nodded. "In that case I suggest we should examine meme theory closely. To keep your mind occupied else-where."

"Do you have any ethical qualms regarding human experimentation?" Amy questioned

"It's one of the few forms of interaction with people that I don't find repellent." Sheldon said. "Along with Nobel prize ceremonies."

"If we are to do a meme theory experiment, we need to fabricate a tantalizing piece of gossip. And a second non-tantalizing piece to use as a control." Amy said. "Then we'll track its progress through our social group and interpret the results through the competing academic prisms of memetic theory, algebraic gossip and epidemiology."

Sheldon smiled at Amy's scientific banter. "Look at you, getting me to engage in the social sciences." He said "You're a vixen, Amy Farrah Fowler."

Amy gave a shocked look at this statement. Was this Sheldon flirting?

"We need to find a person to initiate our social experiment on." Sheldon said. "We can discuss the gossip whilst finding them."

Sheldon began to walk away. Amy was still processing Sheldon's comment but after a few seconds she followed.

#

Leonard walked into school with nervous thoughts in his mind. He expected people to look at him and laugh. He did hear snickering as he walked to his locker but no one had gone to interact with him. When he had gotten to his locker with no confrontation he almost believed that no one cared about what Kurt posted.

"Good morning Leonard." Someone said from behind him.

"It was all Kurt, I swear!" Leonard reactively said. He turned and saw Sheldon and Amy with smiles on their faces. Knowing them, he didn't think his defensiveness was appropriate. "I mean… hello."

"We would just like to tell you that Amy and I had sexual intercourse." Sheldon said. Amy nodded in agreement. Leonard almost jumped out of his skin, he was so surprised.

"But Sheldon, you never…"

"On an un-related note Sheldon and I have started a herb garden." Amy said.

"Great Sheldon, but lets get back too…"

"We have to go now. Bye." Sheldon said and the two walked away from him quickly. He heard Sheldon say something to Amy about gossip. Was this a trick?

#

Leonard sat in his home class with his books on his desk. He avoided eye contact with everyone as they walked in and pretended like he was writing. After roll call had been finished they were allowed to talk until the school bell rang for their first class. He then over-heard a conversation from some random students in the class. They weren't popular but not un-popular either.

"Quick draw? What does that even mean?"

"Oh you're so innocent."

"I'm sorry I never went to the GenitalWarts school of Bitchcraft and Sluttery."

"L-O-L. It just meant he did the deed to fast."

"Ohhh. I get it now."

Leonard rolled his eyes and tried to ignore them.

"Who would even date a quick draw?"

"Obviously it didn't satisfy her since she ran to Kurt straight afterwards."

"Who wouldn't run to Kurt. He is soo hot."

"You think he is hot?" Leonard heard a familiar voice enter the conversation. "Is it hot to cheat on you with 50 other girls on Tindr?" He saw Penny speak up with an angry expression on her face.

"Oh, sorry Penny." One apologised, clearly embarrassed at talking behind her back. "We were just discussing."

"Discussing what that man-whore posted on Facebook last night?" she said loudly. "You believe anything he said…"

"But it was the girl with the accent that said it."

"Could've been an actress, for all we know." Penny said.

By this time the teacher of the home-class, Gablehauser, had seen what had been happening.

"Penny and Samantha please keep your voice down." He said.

The two gave each other an angry glare but didn't speak anymore.

One of Kurt's football buddies raised his hand.

"What is it?" Gablehauser asked.

"Can we get a confirmation from 'quick draw' about what was said?" he asked.

"What is a quick draw?" Gablehauser said. Some people began to laugh at him saying it. Some people in the class looked at Leonard. "I see. No. And if you keep it up I'll give you detention."

"I bet 'quick draw' couldn't 'keep it up'." Samantha giggled.

"Samantha, that is it. You will be getting detention."

Samantha's jaw dropped. "But this is all Leonard's fault. Penny cheated on Kurt with him!"

This was the first time that conversation that they mentioned Leonard by name. Anyone who was uninformed, now knew exactly what was happening.

"I don't care." Gablehauser said. "You will be getting detention."

The school bell rang. As Leonard walked out of the class he saw Penny walk up to him.

"Sorry about that." Penny said. "I felt angry and had to defend myself…"

"You don't have to do that Penny. Please don't get yourself in trouble because of me." He said.

"I'm sorry. I'm just glad I warned you first about the video so the gossip-hounds didn't have to tell you."

"It isn't just the Facebook post that has me bothered." Leonard said. "Sheldon and Amy told me this morning that they had sex."

Penny looked shocked. "What? How? Did they know what they were doing when they did it?"

Leonard shrugged. "They were acting really weird when they told. I think they're up to something. I hope Kurt isn't behind any of this."

"I'll have to ask around." She said. "I have to go to class. See ya."

"Okay. See ya!" He said and then she left.

"What were you talking to Penny about?" he heard someone say. It was Sheldon once again.

Leonard thought it'd be awkward if he told Sheldon he had been talking about him. "Just discussing what had happened in homeroom." He said. "Anyways, Sheldon, about the sex thing…"

"Due to keeping the variables controlled I can't add any more information." Sheldon said. "I've already said too much. All I wanted was to gather the data." And walked away from Leonard

"Umm.. okay." Leonard said. He was having trouble processing all the weird events of the day and it had only just started.

#

Leonard, Howard and Raj did the enforced stretches for their midday gym class. The gym coach was walking around checking that they were doing it properly but kept looking around the class to different people, allowing the three to talk.

"People have been laughing but no one has done anything too drastic." Leonard said. "At my old school people used to throw stationary at me as I walked down the hallway and punch me in the stomach. Where is the creativity in Los Angeles?" he added sarcastically.

"Your old school was weird." Howard said. "Everything here is done through secrets and lies not actions. We're in LA, the kingdom of the gossip."

"You make a good point." Raj nodded. "The air here tempts me to listen to the clip even though I know it is harmful. Who even was the girl in it? Did she have a distinctive voice? I heard from someone that she had a cute accent."

Leonard and Howard glanced at each other awkwardly. "That isn't important." Leonard said. "She is dead to me now."

"The clip was taken down from Facebook." Howard said. "People did download it though but they're just sending it to each other. On an unrelated note, did you hear Sheldon and Amy had sex?"

Raj looked shocked. "What? Smelly Pooper finally got laid? Before me?"

"Yeah. He told me. Did he tell you too?"

Howard shook his head. "Bernadette told me. We were organising our trip to the vet."

"You were right about gossip being in the air here." Leonard said.

"Howard! Raj! Other Guy!" the coach shouted. "Stop chit-chatting and get stretching!"

"His name is quick draw!" someone from the class shouted. Everyone else except Leonard, Howard and Raj laughed.

"Hey! Get back to stretching or YOUR nickname in my class will be quick draw." The coach shouted at the person who spoke up. It was Leonard who laughed that time.

#

Sheldon and Amy sat outside of library, eating their lunch. It was a perfect time to discuss their meme theory experiment.

"Penny knows. Bernadette knows. Howard knows. Do we know about Raj?" Amy asked.

The two saw Raj walking towards the library. His mutism made him unable to make say anything but as he walked past he gave Sheldon a suggestive wink and thumbs up.

"It seems he does know." Amy said.

"How can we tell?" Sheldon didn't get Raj's body language.

"Believe me, he knows." Amy said.

"I respect your suspicion but for accuracy sake I'll have to ask him later." Sheldon said. "Have any of them said anything about herb gardens?"

"I asked Bernadette discreetly and she ignored the question. It seemed she didn't." Amy said. "It seems the tantalizing piece of gossip spread through the group like wild-fire. Our false gossip meme appears to have reached node lambda."

"That is very interesting. This is moving faster than we thought."

"And it isn't just our social circles." Amy continued. "When walking through the halls I saw some of the football team notice me for the first time. And some of the cheerleaders were whispering about me."

"Amazing." Sheldon said. "Meme theory is more titillating then I expected. It appears the rate of gossip transmission is proportional to the number of nodes squared."

"I know." Amy said. "It seems the main player was Penny who spoke too loudly when telling Bernadette. When we replicate the experiment, we should start by telling her."

Sheldon gave a nod. "I agree. I must say, pretending to have sex with you has given me a great deal of satisfaction."

Amy was surprised at Sheldon's choice of words. More flirting? "Umm… Sheldon… I'm not quite there yet…"

Sheldon looked confused. "I'm not quite sure what you mean. But if your referring to starting round 2 of the experiment, we can start another day if you wish."

Amy gave a smile. Of course, he wasn't flirting. How stupid.

#

Leonard stood at his locker after lunch, retrieving his books for his final lessons of the day. He turned as he shut his locker door he saw Kurt and his football friends walking down the hall. He'd managed to avoid them all day. But he couldn't get away fast enough.

"Hello, Quick Draw." Kurt said. "Did you see what someone posted on Facebook? I knew you were pathetic. I heard even Shelbot could do better at sex then you."

"Kurt… we all know it was you who posted that sound clip." Leonard said. "I don't care. If you want to call me quick draw…. then umm…. go ahead." Leonard was slightly nervous at the response. He was already reaching his bravery limits saying that.

"What?" Kurt said.

"People have been calling me quick draw all day and every time someone does, the less annoying it becomes." Leonard said. "I might even embrace the term."

Kurt shook his head. "You're a pathetic quick draw, that is all you are…"

"How original…" Leonard began to say but before he could add something clever Kurt punched him straight in the face. Leonard instantly dropped all his books and fell straight to the ground. He was still conscious but he wasn't sure what on his face was hurting.

"How could some nerd like you take Penny from me!" Kurt said with anger. "There is no way she wouldn't have broken up with me if it weren't for you!"

Kurt was about to punch Leonard again but was stopped as someone had grabbed his arm.

"You really shouldn't Kurt." Michael said. "Do you really want my cousin's girlfriend's brother to look even uglier."

"I don't care!"

"Hey, what is happening here?" a teacher saw the commotion in the hallway. "Kurt, did you punch this kid?"

"No… it was a football that landed on his face…" Kurt lied.

"And where is the football, Kurt?" the teacher asked. Kurt couldn't answer.

"That is it, Kurt." The teacher said. "I am going to escort you to the principal's office. Leonard, you need to go the nurse."

"I can take him." Michael volunteered. "I'm his sister's boyfriend's cousin!"

"Sure. Thankyou Michael."

Kurt and the teacher walked away from two. Michael grabbed Leonard and pulled him away to the nurse's office.

"What the hell is up with you defending me?" Leonard asked.

"Our family has too many issues already." Michael explained. "I didn't need to be the brother to a bloody corpse."

"So, it is your crazy loneliness issues making you be nice." Leonard said. "You really need to see someone about that…"

"So we're at the nurses office." He interrupted as they walked up to the nurse's office. "Shut up Quick Draw whilst I explain to the nurse how Kurt beat you like crazy."

Leonard would have rolled his eyes if it didn't hurt his face. He walked into the nurse's office and Michael followed.

#

Bernadette and Howard waited in the Vet's waiting room for Yvette to be ready to see them. It was slightly awkward given both of their history. Bernadette found it difficult to not think of Howard as a horny creep and Howard was overwhelmed by the fact that a girl had agreed to hang out with him even if it were just to look after the rabbit.

"Do you really think Sheldon and Amy had sex…" Howard began to talk.

Bernadette shuddered. "I really don't want to think about. It's weird and I shouldn't have told you."

Howard shrugged. "Leonard also told me about it…"

"Howard and Bernadette, I'm ready to see you now." Yvette came out of her office and greeted them.

The two followed Yvette into the Veterinary office and saw Valentino walking around happily on a nearby table. They sat down across from her.

"So how is Valentino?" Bernadette asked.

Yvette smiled. "We performed all the relevant tests. He is healthy inside and out." She explained.

"That is great." Bernadette said gladly. Howard nodded in agreement.

"What we need to discuss is who is going to look after him and how you are going to do so." She continued. "I'd like to make sure Valentino is in a good place from here on."

"I can take care of him." Bernadette said. "I love biology so I'd like to be able to have more experience with animals."

"I think I should help too." Howard said. "My house is also bigger and less crowded. I know you have a lot of siblings."

"I'm not surprised you know that." Bernadette said sarcastically.

"What if Bernadette and I were to keep Valentino as a shared pet." Howard said. "I think we both care for him."

Yvette looked suspiciously at Howard. "Sharing a pet can be risky. If you two have a falling out, Valentino can get ignored."

"I think Bernadette and I can figure it out." Howard said. Bernadette gave Howard a confused look.

"Okay." Yvette nodded. "But since you're both teenagers and sharing the pet, I'd like for you two to bring in Valentino in a week's time. I'd like to make sure you are raising him to the best of your ability."

"That seems reasonable." The two agreed with her.

Yvette carefully gave Valentino back to them and in a proper rabbit cage, unlike the box they bought him to the vets in last time. The two thanked Yvette and left the office.

"Howard." Bernadette began. "I hope this sudden interest in raising Valentino isn't just to spend more time with me."

Howard gulped. That reason was the main one to why he was adamant to raise Valentino together.

"Of course not." Howard lied. "I like Valentino. I liked making the rabbit habitat with you at my party."

Bernadette sighed. "I don't believe you." She said. "So to prove it, you need to look after him first. I will come over tomorrow and check that you are taking this seriously."

Howard gave a small smile. "That seems reasonable."

"And please don't let your mother eat Valentino." She continued. Someone nearby heard this and looked weirded out. Bernadette gave that person an awkward smile and then handed the cage to Howard. "I will see you tomorrow then." And left.

Howard looked down at Valentino who was currently twitching his bunny nose. He was definitely a cute rabbit.

#

"You really didn't have to come over to tutor me today." Penny assured Leonard as they sat in her room with a maths book opened. "You probably needed rest."

Leonard kept the ice pack to his face, hiding the bruise Kurt had given him. "It is all good, Penny. I had no injury to my brain."

"If I had been there and seen him do that, I would have gone all Nebraska on him." She said. "I hope they suspend him from school forever!"

"We should really get back to math." Leonard said. "We have been distracted the past few days with Valentine's Day and the breakups, so it is a good time to refresh those brain cells."

Penny nodded. "I agree. I'm still going to give Kurt and his goons a piece of my mind the next time I see him."

Penny showed Leonard some of the maths problems they had been working on in class and Leonard explained how to do them. Half-way through tutoring, Penny's phone buzzed.

"Can I see what that was?" Penny asked.

"Sure, but don't take too long." Leonard assured.

Penny looked down at the text. "What the ****"

"Is everything okay?" Leonard asked.

"Amy just texted me that she is pregnant!" Penny exclaimed. She showed the text to Leonard.

 _I'm just messaging you to let you know I'm getting orthotics. Also, I am carrying Sheldon's intellectually superior baby. – Amy_

"That has to be made up." Leonard said. "Do you think they are trying to trick us?"

Penny shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Bernadette knows since they live in the same place. I should text her about it…"

"After tutoring." Leonard reminded.

Penny nodded. "Right. After tutoring."

And the two continued to work on the maths problems

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What did you think about what happened and what do you think will happen? The whole Shamy sub-plot was a bit of fun after what Amy has had to go through this story has been emotional. It also allowed Shamy to interact more and made Amy continue to wonder exactly where Sheldon's feelings are. I like inter-twining that whole plot into the other stories.**

 **The other sub-plots were fun to write too. Poor Leonard was hurt, but I like to continue to make him stand up for himself even with great adversity. Howard and Bernadette's trip to vet was also adorable and we will see what will happen when they try and look after Valentino together.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. If you wish to follow my story please favourite and follow here or follow me on tumblr(clintcooper). Please also review so I know how you feel about the story and what you like/dislike. Thank you all again and hopefully I can write again soon. College is always there reminding me I have assignments and work to do.**

 **Clint Cooper.**


	20. The Sister Observation

Leonard lay in his bed. It was now Saturday and he was intending on spending as much time as possible relaxing in bed. He was extremely glad that he did not have to deal with Kurt or classes or people whispering "quick draw". Also, he didn't have to deal with any of his family. His mother had left the home early to work on her book, his dad was still staying in a hotel and Michael hadn't returned from wherever he went the night before. He could finally enjoy some peace and quiet.

However, at 9am someone rang the doorbell to the home. He really hoped it was just a sales-person so he could tell them to leave and then go back to sleep. Leonard dragged himself out of his bed and looked through the window next to the door. He saw a familiar face and sighed. He opened the door.

"Hello Leonard!" she sounded excited. She looked at what Leonard was wearing. "Did I wake you?"

"Hi Hayley." He greeted his sister. "Why are you here?"

"I'm meeting up with one of my high school friends tomorrow. She attends Caltech. Since the family is here I thought I'd stop by a day earlier to see you all."

Leonard gave an awkward expression. Given the family's troubles this wasn't a time for an unexpected visitor. "Well… I'm the only one home."

"Where is mother and father?" she asked.

"Mother went into work. She is working full-time on another fan-fiction about us." He said. "And father is at a hotel for obvious reasons…"

"Does he have a work conference or something?" she asked.

Leonard then wondered how much his sister had heard about the recent family issues. "Has someone told you about what has happened to this family the past few weeks?"

She shook her head. "You know our family. We don't like to interact with each other." She said. "I was hoping to catch up with everything about the move to Los Angeles today."

Leonard felt extremely awkward being the one to tell her what happened. "The jist of everything is mother decided to write another book and father got really angry at her about it. He left the house for a few days and when Michael and I got them together to sort out their issues they agreed to get a divorce…"

"What? A divorce?" she seemed shocked. "How could no one tell me any of this?"

"Mother doesn't think her personal life is her children's concern." Leonard said.

"This is a lot to process… I just wanted to have a catch up with you all when I was in town…"

Leonard shrugged. "I'm sorry… I've got to go and get dressed…"

She nodded. "Okay. And when you're done you have to tell me everything about LA."

Leonard nodded. "Right." He said but he knew he would avoid certain things. No way would he mention 'quick draw' or how his first relationship had ended with her cheating on him with the person who punched him in the face.

#

Bernadette had gotten dressed for her rabbit caring time at Howard's home. She made sure to wear clothes that covered everything, so Howard wouldn't act like a creep. Bernadette walked up to the room where Amy was still staying and knocked on the door. She got the text from Penny that Amy was pregnant and wanted to investigate.

"Come in." Amy said. Bernadette opened the door and saw Amy close a laptop she was working on. Amy didn't have a laptop to keep from her old home so she borrowed one from Bernadette's dad.

"What are you working on?" Bernadette asked.

"I can't say." Amy said.

Bernadette raised her eyebrow. "If you think you're pregnant because you Googled some symptoms then you are wrong."

Amy raised her eyebrow. "You think I'm pregnant?"

"Amy, I didn't mean anything bad by it…"

"Who told you?" she asked.

"Penny told me that you texted her." Bernadette continued. "What is up with this…"

"Interesting." Amy continued. "Did she mention anything else? Maybe about orthotics?"

"No."

"Okay. Thankyou." She looked like she was taking mental notes. "I'm sorry Bernadette but I can't reveal any more details for scientific reasons."

"Amy…"

"I hope you have a good day looking after the bunny." She said.

Bernadette knew this meant Amy wanted her to leave without saying so. "Okay. See you later then."

Bernadette left, grabbed some items she bought the previous day for Valentino and walked towards the door of the house.

"Where are you going?" someone asked. It was her father.

"I'm going over to Howard's house." She explained. "We have a project to work on."

"Howard? The creepy one?" her father questioned. "Be careful!"

"I'll be fine. I have definite control over him when he gets weird." She said. "What you should be concerned about is Amy."

"Why?" Bernadette's father asked.

"She seems to be telling everyone that Sheldon and her were intimate…"

"I don't need to know what they do." He said.

"But also, that she is pregnant." She said. "I think you need to talk to her."

He gave a surprised look. "I will try my best." He said. "Good luck with the project."

"Thanks." She said. She then left the house. She did not know if telling her father was the best thing. But hopefully speaking to an adult would push Amy to stop keeping whatever secrets she was hiding.

#

"I can't believe this happened." Hayley said. Leonard just explained the entire story of how their parents decided to get a divorce. "They seemed like they were going to live in pretend contentness for the rest of their lives."

"I know." he nodded. "Moving to LA really opened father's eyes about how mother was treating me."

"I'm glad I stopped by and I was able to find this out." She said. "What is up with you at school? Are you still being bullied?"

Leonard noticed she glanced to the bruise on my face. "Yeah. But I intend to just ignore it."

"You can't ignore people putting bruises on your face." She said. "Is this more than one person? Is it the entire school?"

"Can we talk about your college journey to obtain a PHD and cure the world's diseases…"

"You are so used to people in your family not caring that when someone does, you just push them away." She explained. "Just tell me anything. I don't plan to interfere if you don't want."

Hayley's statement rung true. He remembered how he pushed away making friends when he first moved to LA and how resilient he was to tutor and become friends with Penny.

"Fine… it was a football guy Michael is friends with named Kurt." He explained. "He was annoyed that his ex-girlfriend was friends with me and felt weakened that she was now 'hanging' with the nerds. He spread a false rumour that Penny cheated on him with me which is obviously false. He was the one who was cheating on her."

"So he punched you?"

"Not quite yet. He posted something bad about me on Facebook. When I pretended to not be phased by it, he got annoyed and punched me."

"I'm sorry Leonard." She said. "But from what you're saying it seems you have been making friends at school. Is that true? I know you had troubles in New Jersey…"

"I have several friends." He said. "There is Penny, Howard and Raj. I guess Sheldon, Amy and Bernadette are also there too." Leonard's phone buzzed and he saw a text from Michael.

 _I can't see Hayley because I'm planning on getting with some girls. Sorry – Michael._

"Michael is busy." He said. "I guess it is just you and me."

"I would love to meet some of your friends." She said. "Since the parents are not here, let's invite them over."

Leonard flinched. "Are you sure? They can be kinda eccentric…"

"And you aren't?" she said with a smile.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "I really wanted a break from school this weekend."

"Or we could sit here in awkward silence. Maybe I can call mother and suggest some edits for her book…"

Leonard sighed. "Fine. I'll text them to come over."

Hayley gave a smile and Leonard began to text everyone in the group.

#

Bernadette rung the door-bell to Howard's house and waited.

"I'll get the door!" she heard Howard shout.

"CAN YOU GET THE DOOR?!" another voice screeched.

"I'M GETTING THE DOOR!"

"IF YOU CAN'T GET IT, I CAN…"

"I'LL GET IT!"

Howard opened the door and looked flustered by the yelling. "Hello Bernadette."

"Hi Howard." She greeted. "How are you…"

"DID YOU GET THE DOOR?"

Howard rolled his eyes. "I GOT THE DOOR! DON'T WORRY AND GET BACK TO YOUR THIRD BREAKFAST."

"I didn't realise I would be interrupting anything."

"Don't worry." Howard said. "It would have been like this at anytime."

Bernadette walked into the home and then followed Howard to a room. In the room he saw Valentino was in his cage.

"I hope you've let him out the cage since yesterday." Bernadette said.

"After mother went to sleep and woke-up I let him run around." He explained "I really don't want them running into each other."

"I definitely understand." She said. "We should shut the door and let him run around."

Bernadette made sure the door was closed. She opened the hatch and Valentino slowly crawled out.

"He is so cute." She said. "I bought some things for him to play with."

She opened the bag she was carrying and revealed some bunny toys. She also bought out a packet of food for him, but it looked like Howard had already fed him. There was a dish full of food and another of water in the cage. Howard had also added some straw to the bottom for him to walk on.

"I wish we could let him go outside." He said. "But I'm worried he'll get lost."

Valentino had crawled up to Howard and was rubbing up against his leg.

"What is happening?" he asked. "Is he hungry?"

Bernadette shook his head. "No. I think he trusts you. How sweet." She said. "It seems you have been looking after him well."

"So do you trust I'm doing this for the right reasons?"

She nodded cautiously. "I'm more convinced given the effort. If only we could do something more than having him in a room." She said "We need to build a habitat for him to walk around. We can do it outside. How big is your yard?"

"It is of a good size." He said. "And mother doesn't go out there. She only leaves the house for the doctors, Bingo or synagogue."

"Great!" Bernadette smiled. "Do you have any supplies we could build it with?"

"We could look in the shed." He said. "I have a lot of left-over supplies from school projects, science fairs and cosplay."

Bernadette picked Valentino up but instantly he decided to wrestle around. She immediately put him down. Howard picked him up and Valentino looked calm.

"Let's go outside." He said. "You can bring the cage so he can watch us, and feel social."

Bernadette sighed. She gave the duties of care to Howard, so now Valentino was more inclined to him. And she left to labour duty instead of playing with the animal.

#

After an hour of finding the materials, googling construction tips and design, Howard and Bernadette were constructing a habitat. It was meant to look like a small outdoor house, but for a bunny. They used some wood they had found in Howard's garage and made sure it wouldn't give Valentino a splinter. Bernadette knew how to piece the wood together and Howard made sure not to mention anything dirty about wood. They added special compartments in the habitat for food, water and toys.

Throughout the process they continued to check up on Valentino who seemed to be enjoying the fresh air, despite still being in the cage. They made sure his food and water was still fresh. After they finished constructing Howard carefully placed Valentino in the habitat. Valentino was initially cautious but after a few minutes he began to run around inside. He seemed to enjoy the space and the fresh air.

"We can't leave him out here on his own." Bernadette said. "But when we have free time we can sit here and watch him. Maybe we can do work out here instead of inside."

"We?" Howard questioned. "Do you intend to come over more often."

Bernadette gave a suspicious look. "I've had fun today but don't get any weird ideas."

Howard shook his head. "My mother will question me having a girl come over. A Catholic girl."

"We can figure it out." She said. "Maybe we can build an identical habitat for my home. So I can look after him there."

"That is a great idea." He said. "I'm just worried about Valentino being scared of travel."

Bernadette nodded. "I know."

Howard's phone buzzed and he looked at it.

"Is it Amy telling you she is pregnant." Bernadette said sarcastically.

"What?" Howard questioned. "No. It is Leonard asking if we wanted to come over. His parents aren't home."

"Since we finished construction, we are free." She said. "Let's just give Valentino some time to wonder around outside."

"I agree." He said. "And you can explain to me what you meant but Amy being pregnant."

#

"Raj just texted me and asked how I found out." Amy said as they stood in Leonard's home. "The rumour has reached full penetration."

"Pun intended?" he questioned.

Amy couldn't help but giggle. "No. Happy accident." she said. "He also asked about our sexual encounter. How competent you were."

"So, it went further than the rumour? He wanted the blow by blow?" Sheldon said. Amy almost gagged at this.

"Pun?" she questioned.

"What pun?" Sheldon asked.

Amy sighed. "Never mind…." She said. "I just described your coitus as aloof but effective."

"Why? I don't want to be a chick magnet?" he complained. "I don't have time. I have experiments and college applications to work on!"

"Bernadette's father also knew." She continued. "I unfortunately had to tell him the truth about the experiment because I didn't want a lecture on irresponsibility or him to tell my father. I think this should the last experiment we do. We have enough data to write a fantastic report."

"I would have loved to spread our next agreed upon rumour of you having multiple orgasms at once but if you wish to stop, I will oblige." Sheldon nodded. Amy smiled.

"Thank you, Sheldon." She said, unsure exactly how to react. "We should tell everyone that it was all a rumour. Leonard has been looking at me funny since I got here."

Sheldon shook his head. "I always suspected Leonard was a sexist."

#

As Sheldon and Amy were talking, Leonard was introducing Penny and Raj to Hayley. Howard and Bernadette were still coming but Leonard received a text saying they wanted to finish a rabbit habitat first.

"These are two people I know from school." Leonard explained. "Raj is in my advanced classes and Penny is the person who I tutor."

Raj gave a silent wave. Penny spoke up instead. "Hi." She said. "It is nice to meet someone from Leonard's family who isn't a jerk."

Hayley gave a small laugh. "I understand. I was like mother and Michael before I moved to college and realised how wrong my attitude was."

Leonard nodded. "It is true Penny." He said. "After she returned home for her first Autumn break she was nicer. She even argued with mother about her books."

"Becoming a nice person is better than remaining a jerk." Penny said. She then looked at the floor. "I've unfortunately learnt that the hard way."

"What do you mean?" Hayley questioned.

"I don't think Penny needs to explain." Leonard said.

"No it is okay. Your sister was able to admit her previous mistakes." Penny said. "I used to be with Kurt and bully the nerds with him. I left Kathy Gieger in a corn-field. I used to laugh at how lame the nerds were. I've realised I was wrong thanks to Leonard."

Hayley looked like she was analysing Penny and nodded. "Self-reflection is always healthy." She said scientifically. She then turned to Raj. "What do you think, Raj?"

Raj began whispering in Leonard's ear.

"Don't say this out loud but I want Howard to get here so I have someone to talk to." Leonard said what Raj whispered. Raj gave Leonard a glare.

The doorbell rang and Leonard opened it. It was Howard and Bernadette. He let them in.

"Everyone is here!" Sheldon said. "I think it is time to make an announcement."

"We all know that you are pregnant." Hayley said. "Congratulations."

Amy shook her head. "It is interesting that you had heard the rumour but no. We are here to debunk that."

"To keep Amy's mind off moving to Australia we decided to run an experiment, to see how fast and far a rumour could go." He said. "We didn't have sex. We didn't start a herb garden. Amy is not getting orthotics and is not pregnant. Expect our official meme theory scientific report to be posted soon on Facebook."

"You are moving to Australia?" Bernadette asked Amy, ignoring most of what Sheldon said.

Amy rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe Sheldon had blurted that out. "I don't know. My father is from Australia. If he were to be my legal guardian, I might have to move there. Nothing is definite yet."

Bernadette immediately hugged Amy. "If you move to Australia I'll miss you."

"Your new friends are more touchy-feely then I expected." Hayley said to Leonard. Leonard couldn't help but laugh at this.

"You smell like animal." Amy said and left the hug.

"Sorry. I came here straight from Howard's home." She said. "We spent the day looking after Valentino."

The doorbell rang once again and it was some pizza that Hayley had ordered. The group sat in the dining room and ate. Hayley talked to all of them, except Raj, about their lives and how they became friends with Leonard. Sheldon thought the conversation was inane and was disappointed to find out this was the esteemed daughter of Beverly Hofstadter. Leonard then got to explain how Sheldon did an entire group project on his own and expected Leonard to just allow it. Hayley was the one who got to look at Sheldon with disapproval which annoyed him.

Eventually the door to the home opened and Michael walked into the room. He looked tired from his day of sexual activities. He saw his siblings and Leonard's group of friends sitting at the dinner table.

"Ah!" he acted surprised. "A group of nerds! I'm out-numbered! Don't hurt me with your intellectual rants!"

"Shut up Michael!" Hayley said. "You're a hypocrite if you criticise us. I know your grades are stellar AND that you like the Avengers."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Being a nerd is not about being smart. It is a state of being." He said. "The only person in this room who doesn't give off the 'nerd vibe' is Penny. But I sense you guys will be initiating her soon."

"Whatever Michael." Penny said. "I know how you and your buddy Kurt act. I'd prefer to give off Nerd Vibes then Douche-Bag vibes."

"Oh, snap." Amy said.

"What snapped?" Sheldon asked seriously.

"That was an expression sweetie." Penny informed.

"I'm going to go to sleep." Michael said. "Keep the sound of math equations and Harry Potter analysis down to a minimum."

He gave a sly smile and left the room.

The vibe in the room was different after he had interrupted. Bernadette and Howard decided to leave to check on Valentino and a bit later everyone else left.

#

The next morning Hayley had gotten her things and was preparing to leave the house. Leonard had to get up so someone could lock the door.

"Goodbye." He said. "It seemed adequate that you met my new friends."

"I do like them." She said. "Unfortunately, there are bullies here like in New Jersey but it is way easier to deal with them when you have friends."

"I definitely agree." Leonard nodded.

"Especially Penny." She continued. "I know she is used to dating the muscle-bound football players but I can tell she really likes you."

"I know." he said. "She likes the way I tutor her."

"I don't mean that way." Hayley said with a giggle. "I mean she really likes you. In a more-than-friends way."

Leonard shook his head. "It is too early in the morning for jokes."

"I'm being serious." She said. "The way she talks around you. She even looks at you when the attention isn't on her."

Leonard sighed. "No. I'm sure she was looking behind me or something." He said. "We do have very interesting wallpaper in this house."

Hayley shrugged. "I see you don't agree with my claims." She said. "And I couldn't tell if you shared the same feelings. I'm not telling you to go for it. But if you wanted too…."

"I don't."

"Well then forget I mentioned anything." Hayley said. She opened the door to the home and carried her bag out. "See you later Leonard."

"Bye." Leonard said. He shut the door just to stop any more awkward conversation. There was no way Penny liked him and he didn't like Penny in that way. They were just friends. Nothing more. But then he mulled it over in his mind. Did it make sense? Did Penny like him? Leonard internally cursed at his sister for putting these ideas in his head.

#

Amy was working on her Meme Theory experiment report in her room when someone knocked.

"Come in!" she said. The door opened and it was Bernadette's father.

"Good morning Amy." He said. "I have your father on the phone. He would like to talk to you."

"Really?" she questioned.

"Yes." He said. He handed her the phone. She put the phone up to face and began talking.

"Hello."

"Is this Amy?" she heard him ask.

"Yes." She answered.

"I want to discuss… the living arrangements for you." he said. "I have to go back to Australia tonight."

"Oh. I don't think I will be ready…"

"Oh, I don't mean you will be coming with me right now." He clarified. "I know you have friends and commitments in America."

"That is a relief." Amy admitted.

"But if I am to be your legal guardian you will have to move here." He said.

Amy sighed. "I know…"

"I am going to give you some time to live with Bernadette and spend time with your friends." He explained. "I can't get you enrolled in school in Australia until the next school term. So if you want, I can give you until then."

"And when is that?" she asked.

"Before April 18th." He said. "You should come a few days before to get settled in."

"That gives me almost 2 months?" she said in surprise.

"That will also give me enough time to organise the special arrangements of you transferring from the American school system to the Australian one." He continued. "What do you think?"

"That sounds like plenty of time." She said. "That is probably as reasonable as I could expect."

"So…. You agree?"

"Yeah…"

"Great." He said. "I'll make sure to keep contacting you during that period. I have your email address and number, correct?'

"Yes." She said.

"Great. I need to pack now. I'll see you in two months." He said.

"Goodbye." Amy said. The two hung up.

"It sounds like you will be staying here for two months." Bernadette's father said. "No getting pregnant during that time, okay?"

Amy blushed with embarrassment. "That was a fake rumour!"

"I don't know what non-Catholic girls get up to." he said. "I'll let you get back to your homework."

He left the room and Amy opened her computer to the Meme Theory report. She then got out her phone and texted Sheldon the news. This seemed like an opportunity to Amy. She secretly hoped this two months would be enough time for her and Sheldon to make a connection. A connection that wouldn't be broken when it went long distance.

 **Thank you for reading. What did you think of what happened? What do you want to happen next? This chapter is finished sooner than I expected. Hopefully I can keep this pace up.**

 **Please favourite/follow here and on Tumblr(clintcooper) and review to leave feedback. Thank you all again!**

 **Clint Cooper**


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